Darkness and Light
by PastaDayAndNight
Summary: When Switzerland leaves for a meeting about a strange force about to attack, Liechtenstein is left alone. Slowly, she finds comfort and deep friendship in some unexpected nations. But what will happen when darkness strikes?
1. Prologue

**Hi there ^^ Just letting you know that this chapter is just the prologue. If you guys like it, I'll continue uploading other chapters. This story will mainly be about Liechtenstein, and truthfully, I haven't figured out what the main pairing will be, so if you have something in mind, just message me and I'll put up a poll sometime soon. Just a warning that this involves a lot of pairings with Liechtenstein, just because I love her that much. Enjoy!  
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**I. Prologue**

She huddled in the enclosed space with him, pressing the dark blue handkerchief to his bleeding forehead. The wound had started running again, and blood quickly seeped through. He sat quietly in front of her, unusually silent. Her heart pumped with the nervous adreline of war. Her friends, her brother were out there fighting for their lives and he, he could have died. She worried, but not for her own life but for his. He was strong, she knew, but how sturdy could he be when his emotions were manipulated?

She pressed the bloodstained handkerchief to his head. He cringed away from her.

"Why do you do this?" He asked, his voice broken from disuse.

"... Do what?"

"Make me feel like you care. When you don't."

She looked up to see tears trying to well over. She wiped them away with the back of her hand. He let her. Maybe he was trying to hold on the thought that she really did care, instead of just helping out of pity or even manipulating him.

She didn't say a word as she slowly removed the handkerchief and took out a bottle of antioxidant and wet a cotton ball, pressing it to his head.

"How come you think I don't really care?" She finally told him, not meeting his eyes. Her voice cracked, and he noticed that she might really be crying. Because of him. He hated it when she cried. He hated the fact that he was so tied to her and just couldn't let go. But he had too. He couldn't let his hopes take over.

"I'm just a weak, useless nation." He told her, trying to make the pain go away. "And you're so different. You have everyone else; why me?" He hated the words, yet they tumbled out on their own will.

"I'm your friend." She insisted.

"Why?"

"I made a promise to you. I hate breaking promises, especially my own."

There was a silence and he stiffened behind the bandages she was wrapping around his head. So it was just a promise then. He didn't mean anything to her, only a promise that she was too nice to break. "Then I release you from your promise. You're free to go." He closed his eyes, half hoping that she'll say something to make him believe that she really won't leave. The silence was overwhelming, and he could see her green eyes sparkling with tears. Did he really mean that much to her, or was she just pretending? He didn't want her to go, no. She was the only one that had made him feel like he wasn't just a weak, useless nation but someone really worth loving. But what if it was just a facade? Or worse still, what if he was letting his imagination run wild in his delirium? What if she'd never cared, and he'd just hoped for it so badly that he was going crazy?

"I release you from your promise." He repeated quietly. "Please, go." He hated how weak he sounded there, in front of her. But it wouldn't matter anyways. In seconds she'd be gone from him, and she'd go running to her precious brother and her friends. Why would a girl like her need someone like him?

"... But what if I don't want to?" She breathed, so quietly that he could barely hear her. "What if I want to stay with you?"

She took his silence as rejection. "If you really want me to go that badly..." She sounded heartbroken, her sweet soprano voice so quiet that he could barely hear through his raspy breaths. And no, he didn't want her to go at all. But why let her help him so that one day she could forget him and laugh at him like he was a burden? He had to hurt himself this time.

"... then I'll go." She finally said. "I'm sorry that I caused you trouble. I'll... I'll call someone else in to help you. But before I leave..." She lingered back, her hands dropping down by her side, her eyes on the ground.

"Be safe. Ich liebe dich." He watched as she bowed her head and disappeared behind the door. Surprised and confused, he parted his lips to call her back, but the door slammed shut before he could get the words out of his mouth.


	2. Friends?

**He he, the first chapter's up (Already! Thanks to the reviews- I didn't expect reviews so quickly!)**  
**Note: I'm gonna put up the poll for Liechtenstein's main pairings now. Warning: There will be quite a lot of crack pairings)**

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**II. Friends?**  
**Mid September**

For some reason Sealand was singing a strange love song when they were walking home from the world meeting. Liechtenstein watched him singing his head off curiously, her 'brother', Switzerland standing close beside her. He kept his eyes trained ahead, but they were watching Lilli from the corners. She didn't notice anything, only Peter's untrained singing. It was... different to see her friend belting out a love song right in the middle of the street.

Lilli noticed the strange looks they were receiving, but she waved them away. Along the way back from Russia's place, they passed Prussia. He was Switzerland's friend, really, but Lilli also knew him well. He often sat for her when Switzerland was in one of his overprotective mood. Gilbert winked at her when they passed him high tailing his brother.

Walking along, Lilli saw Iceland, one of her close friends beside Sealand, and America, someone she didn't know too well. Sealand kept singing like nobody was there, and Iceland turned to her. She beamed at him, and waved shyly to America before continuing on her way back home.

After leaving Sealand behind at his destination, she walked back to the house with a quiet Switzerland. The cool autumn air swept around them. Liechtenstein slipped her smaller hand around Switzerland's on impulse. He kept her warm.

They had Swiss food for diner that night. Liechtenstein had to admit that Vash's cheap cheese tasted good, even though they were, well, cheap.

"I have to go visit Austria tomorrow." Switzerland spoke up suddenly. He seemed sorry to be leaving her behind, but she was quick to reassure her brother that she'll be fine.

"Will you be okay alone?" His worried voice made her smile. Switzerland's tsundere personality made Lilli the only one he seemed compassionate about. She loved that about him, and would forever be grateful that he had taken her in.

After diner, they sat around the fireplace, Switzerland reading a book and Liechtenstein curled up by his side, sewing. Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"Brother, why are you so protective of me? Mr. Russia's not like that with Mr. Prussia and even Mr. England isn't as protective of Mr. America."

Switzerland blushed faintly. "I care about you." He said quietly. Liechtenstein blinked up at him, satisfied that he had answered her with something other than just the usual mumbles, returned to her sewing with a smile on her face.

True to his words, Lilli woke up to find Vash missing. Finding that the fridge was empty of food, she put on a dark blue dress and tied her violet ribbon to her hair. When she turned around from locking the door, she immediately crashed into Italy.

Liechtenstein collapsed to the grass, looking up just in time to see Italy's closed eyes, as usual, and his bright smile turn into a worried look. It was rare to see Italy look so worried, and for a moment, Lilli wondered if she'd done something profusely wrong.

Italy held out his hand. She shyly reached for it, disregarding her brother's rules. Italy didn't seem like he'd cause her any harm. When she was standing on her feet again, the brunette smiled widely.

"Germany sent me to find Switzy, ve~!" He exclaimed cheerfully. Liechtenstein shook her head.

"I'm sorry Mr. Italy, my brother's at Mr. Austria's place." She politely responded to him. Although he was roughly her age, she wasn't as familiar with him as with Sealand and Iceland, so she relented to being polite.

"Oh, okay. And you don't have to call me Mister, ve~!"

"Okay, Mi- Italy." He smiled at her, nodding pleasingly.

"If you don't mind, Italy, I need to go to the market and buy a few things for breakfast." She told him.

"Oh, you haven't had breakfast yet? Ve~, come with me. We can get you some breakfast, and then I'll walk you to the supermarket." Italy cheerfully suggested.

Liechtenstein smiled gratefully, for she didn't like to be alone. It was often her with her brother, but now that he had business to do and Peter and Emil were nowhere to be seen, she could come with Italy. He was good company.

"You don't seem quite yourself today." Italy told her as they walked down the street. She was surprised that he'd noticed. To tell the truth, she was feeling a little strange feeling in her heart that her brother wasn't by her side. Maybe it was loneliness. And she almost never feels lonely.

"You usually like to talk about Vash." Italy piped up again, and once more she was surprised that he'd noticed little things about her. She hadn't talked to him that much before, only once or twice, because Switzerland didn't like the Italians.

"It's nothing, really." She didn't look up at him. It was stupid, really. Vash would come back at night, if not then the most would be the next morning.

"Oh." Italy's sentence ended without his usual trademark 've!'. Lilli felt like she'd been the cause.

As expected, Feliciano led her to an Italian restaurant for breakfast. She chose to eat pasta, as it was truly one of her favorite foods, and her companion picked a large pizza. While eating, Liechtenstein couldn't help but smile at the way the Italian ate with his cheerfully closed eyes and big appetite. The occasional 've~' escaped from his lips. Somehow, Italian food suddenly tasted better to her.

When they finished, Liechtenstein was intent on getting to the supermarket. They walked the short way to the market, Liechtenstein carefully sidestepping a drunken France and Russia. Without Switzerland, she wasn't sure if Italy was enough to make those two creepy men stay away. When they passed, Lilli was sure she saw Russia give her a "look".

As they arrived in the market, Lilli found herself a bit reluctant to go in alone. She had always had company. She waved good bye to Italy, but was surprised when he took hold of her wrist, looking as cheerful as always.

"Can I come with you? Not training with Germany makes it slightly lonely by myself. And I enjoy your company, ve~!" Liechtenstein instantly nodded; glad that he had the courage to say what she wouldn't be able to say in a million years.

"Well then, Feliciano, shall we go?"

Italy let out a laugh, his curl flopping to the side as he pulled her down the aisles. Her emerald dress flapped by her side, sashaying whenever she paused to pick something from the shelves and drop it in her basket. Italy didn't stop when she did, though, so she had to try hard to keep up with him. Her giggles seemed to echo through the aisles. Emil and Peter were probably her best friends, but even they can't make her smile quite like Feli can.

"Oooh, pretty, ve~?" He turned to Lilli, his amber eyes open wide and sparkling from the lights, vivid colors trailing through them.

Lilli grabbed his hand –like she always did with Vash, but maybe it was different with different people?- and touched them to the soft, smooth, velvety petals.

"Buy them, don't just gawk." The voice of a slightly irritated shopkeeper made them break apart. For some reason, Italy laughed, and Liechtenstein had to laugh along with his contagious giggles.

"Hey, guys!" A joyful voice sounded from right behind Italy. The brunette nation turned away swiftly to be faced with a blonde beholding glasses. Liechtenstein poked her head out from behind Italy. She took the figure standing in front of them to be America and his quieter twin brother, Canada.

"Good morning Mr. America, Mr. Canada." She curtsied slightly as taught by Mr. Austria.

"Just Alfred or America, only!" The American laughed. Lilli often received this comment, but she never said nation's names without pronouncing it in a more formal way first. Traditions didn't fade easily, even when money did.

"How is your day so far, Mr. Canada?" She asked the other glasses- bearing blonde. He flushed slightly.

"Just Matthew, please. And it's been well, thank you." He answered her politely, bearing a wide smile. She returned it with her own.

Suddenly, Italy pulled her abruptly away. "Let's go see Kiku!" he said excitedly. Liechtenstein waved in apology to the two nations she'd left behind.

She didn't hear the two nations gush over how Canada's finally been noticed, even more than his own outgoing and popular brother.

"Konnichiwa, Japan-san." She figured it was polite to greet Japan in his own language, which, of course, she'd learn a few words from Mr. Austria.

Her green eyes sparkled cheerfully. She noticed something pass in his dark eyes, but his emotionless face didn't change.

"Konnichiwa, Liecht-san." His face never caved from the serious look, but a small smile graced his lips. His eyes seemed lighter. Liechtenstein had to maneuver at how his perfect features looked so graceful, yet hard as ice. She found this to be much different from his own friend, Italy.

"How have you been, Kiku?" Italy's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Fine, Ita-san." Japan smiled at his friend, then turned slightly to study the shy and polite blonde nation beside him. He wondered when Italy had started to hang out with the Liechtensteiner. He usually noticed that Lilli usually walked home with her brother, Vash, and Emil or Peter. He always knew that Prussia often babysat for her. But he'd never seen Italy even interact with Liechtenstein before. Well, his friend had always been very social, so it shouldn't be all that surprising.

"Excuse me, Mr. Japan." A gentle voice interrupted his thoughts. Japan realized that he had been tracing the Liechtenstein's gently edged face, and found his cheeks flushing a bright red color. Liechtenstein's face was bearing the same shade of red.

Japan turned away, looking to Italy instead. His brunette friend was staring at the two with an interested look.

"Please just call me Japan. Kiku'll do, too." He quietly told Liechtenstein; while he liked her politeness, he felt it to be awkward since he wasn't much older than her, just some months or so. And with a strange pleasure, he noticed that she was the one girl he was taller than, other than Taiwan. (Not sure if this is correct or not- Oh well ^^)

"We need to get going, Feli. Brother might be home by now."

Italy nodded and pulled Liechtenstein along with a big grin. "See ya!" He told Kiku, who returned it with a dazed look.

Liechtenstein allowed herself to be pulled away. She enveloped herself in thoughts of how she'd already felt safe around Italy. Of course, he wouldn't be much help if someone decided to invade them, but he was a good friend. She felt certain that it would be okay.


	3. Comfort

**Next chapter's in! Hope you guys like it!**  
**_Special thank you to all my reviewers ^^ It's because of you that I have the muse to keep writing!_  
I've put up the poll, so please visit it if you can!**  
**Note: These first chapters will just be Liechtenstein pretty much meeting everyone. **

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**III. Comfort**  
**Mid September**

When Liechtenstein arrived at the house with Italy, she found an angry German in front of her door. Her green eyes widened in surprise. Hearing footsteps, Germany turned around and glared at Italy.

"Ciao, Germany!" Feliciano didn't seem to think that anything was wrong, until Germany started yelling.

"Where have you been? I told you to find Switzerland! I thought you got kidnapped or something!" Liechtenstein glanced at the two of them, and she wanted to sink into the ground. Was she the reason for all this yelling?

"But I thought..." Italy let out a small "ve" and waved at Liechtenstein as Germany dragged him away.

Alone once more, Liechtenstein opened the door to the house she shared with Switzerland. Neatly setting the grocery bags in their places, she settled for reading a book, seeing as everything else was in order. She had barely sit down when there was a loud knock on her door.

"America?" A surprised edge graced her voice as she opened the door to find Alfred standing there, fumbling with his glasses. His brother wasn't with him anymore.

"May I help you?"

"Hey Liech! Switzerland isn't here, is he?" America peeked around her to look inside the house. Liechtenstein shook her head, her ribbon bouncing slightly in the progress.

"Oh." He said, and Lilli watched him curiously. He seemed like he would like to say something else, but couldn't quite get it out of his mouth.

"Dude, you seem a bit lonely by yourself." He suddenly blurted out, and sheepishly scratched at his hair.

She laughed a little, her high soprano giggles echoing in the empty house. "I guess I am lonely..." She trailed off, her eyes brightening at the thought of going out to enjoy the day once more. Without Switzerland home, she was almost afraid of the empty, silent house.

"It's almost lunch time, so... wanna come eat hamburgers?" Liechtenstein cocked her head at the strange offer, but nodded with a smile. As if he was just waiting for that, America grabbed her thin wrist and pulled her away from the house.

"Hey, catch me if you can!" America suddenly said, and he broke away from her, leaving Liechtenstein behind. Accepting the challenge, she chased him down the streets, her dress billowing behind her. She didn't quite catch up to him, and they only stopped when they arrived at the fastfood restaurant. Liechtenstein happily chose a burger from the menu, while Alfred picked out the jumbo offer.

With her cheese hamburger and Alfred's giant chicken burger, they talked about random things, much like what she had been talking about with Italy earlier. The conversation was pretty much small talk, but she enjoyed it. It made her happier than just spending time by herself. Munching on the burger, she watched as America gobbled down the food, and amazingly, he didn't choke once.

"Hey, Liechtenstein. Where's your brother? If he knew that I was with you here, he'd shoot me. It's a surprise that he isn't here right now." America suddenly looked quite nervous, like he'd said what he shouldn't have. "I mean, uh... I wasn't trying to insult anybody-"

"I know. Sometimes Brother gets trigger happy." She admitted, and he relaxed again.

Eventually, Liechtenstein realized that she had to get going. Big Brother should be home by then. Stuttering a small apology to America, she left him with a slight smile gracing her lips. Alfred, though, sat stunned, as if lightning struck. What was it about her that had him feeling so strange?

Lilli walked home, keeping her head held up as she hurried through the darkening evening. She had never liked to walk home alone in the dark, and it was quite a long way back to the house, too. A small gasp escaped her lips when she heard a rustle in the bushes. She stumbled back, stepped on the edge of a rock and clumsily landed on the ground. The sound behind the bushes was suddenly gone, and she found that a pair of strong arms was helping her up instead.

"Are you okay Liechtenstein?"

She turned quickly to see Iceland, and a sigh escaped her lips. "I'm alright, thanks. I thought I heard something weird in the bushes."

Iceland nodded, holding his arm out to her. "C'mon, I'll walk you home."

She beamed up at him. Emil always seemed to be there when she needed him, always silent but caring, and she was glad to have him by her side. Their small talk made her feel less alarmed. He was one of her best friends, and she knew that even Switzerland had gotten used to the fact that Iceland could walk her home safely.

"How've you been?" She asked him, linking her arm through his.

She didn't notice the slight blush that colored his cheeks. "I've been fine. You?"

"Vash just went somewhere. I think he might have to go away a lot now. He seems a bit distant lately." Her voice was unhappy, and her eyes cast downward. Iceland put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, you'll see. And you could always come hang with me and Sealand." He grinned at her, and she brightened up a bit. She still had her awesome friends, of course.

When they arrived at the doorway, Liechtenstein invited Iceland in for a while. She noticed that the lights were on in the house, but maybe she forgot to turn them off before leaving with America. If Vash was home, she'd have heard his riffle by then.

Liechtenstein walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Want something to eat?" She called out, face half hidden by the door.

"No thanks. I really do have to go."

"I wish you'd stay a little longer." She popped out from behind the fridge and flounced over to him, watching as a smile touched his lips.

"My brothers would freak, Liech. Maybe I'll visit you tomorrow."

"Sure! And sorry for keeping you." She walked him to the door, and he tousled her hair before leaving.

She returned to the library, about to do her nightly sewing, when a snuffling noise in there made her jump. She automatically reached for one of the guns Switzy always strung across the hallways.

"Who's there?" She held out the gun arm-wise. It wasn't loaded, of course, but it would scare whoever was stalking the house. Liechtenstein hoped that her brother would return soon and chase out the stranger. She could always do it herself, as she was stronger than everyone thought, but she'd never liked violence.

"Come out! I have a gun." She warned, and the wooden door gently creaked open to reveal ruby eyes and albino hair.

"Chill, Liecht. It's just the awesome me." Prussia had his arms raised up like he was scared that she really would shoot him, but instead Liechtenstein dropped her gun and tackled him to the ground.

"Prussia!" Her eyes shone happily; she was glad that he would be taking care of her, as Switzerland showed no signs of returning to the house. Prussia was her so called babysitter, and Vash must have called him over to look after her. For an embarrassing moment, she stepped back, blushing and kneeling down to return the gun to its place, but then Prussia scooped her from the ground and brought her into the library with him.

Gilbert was often sent to babysit Liechtenstein whenever Vash couldn't be home for the night. Lilli had at first been surprised that her brother trusted such a member of the Bad Touch Trio, but she'd learned that Prussia can be surprisingly gentle and kind. She'd gotten used to his usual visits, even when Vash was still home to "hang" with her, as he called it, and she could now easily tell that he was upset by the way his eyes didn't quite meet hers as he dropped her to a rocking chair.

"What's wrong Mr. Prussia?" She stumbled from the chair to sit beside him on the carpet. Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed more tense. Prussia stiffened, and his happier mood seemed to evaporate into the air.

"Why are you so damn formal to me, Liech? I don't even deserve this. I bet you really don't like me, and you're just pretending, right? Everyone does that, right? Because no matter how hard I try to pretend, I'm just not awesome." His bitter voice sliced into her heart. Shocked, Liechtenstein tentatively reached out to take his hand, but he moved away, instead getting up to walk out the door.

Stunned, she sat in silence. She'd always been formal to him and he'd never complained, but would always tell her to call him Gilbert the Awesome. And now he seemed so discouraged. She wondered what had him in such a mess.

"Wait," She called out as he put a hand on the knob.

He paused, but didn't turn.

"I really mean it. I want to know the problem so I can help you. I really do care, please don't ever think I don't." She hesitated. "You deserve every act of care I can manage, you know, after all the things you've done for me and with me. You're a great person and an awesome friend, why ever think differently? If anything happened, you can always come to me."

This time he turned around, his ruby eyes capturing hers for a moment before he looked away. They burned of anger and shame. Although he spoke to her, he didn't leave the doorway.

"Hungary left me for that aristocat Austria. She said I had never been good enough."

That was all she needed to understand the bitterness in his voice. Slowly, she got up and pulled him to the ground. Hungary, his best friend of several years, had claimed him to not be good enough. Her heart would break if Sealand or Iceland ever told her that. Prussia obliged her tug, coming to sit down beside her, but he didn't look up. Liechtenstein felt like she was comforting a teddy bear, hard and proud on the outside, but softer on the inside.

"If she ever said that, then it means she isn't good enough to see your awesome qualities. Am I right?"

As she had guessed, Prussia cracked a smile. But it quickly faded as he turned slightly to look at her.

"Do you really mean it?"

"I do. You're worth very much to me." She smiled, and he grinned back at her.

Liechtenstein had thought of going back to her usual sewing, but Prussia made her play with in a long video game where he beat her endlessly. She didn't mind; anything to cheer him up. And when it came time to sleep, she felt quite relaxed and peaceful, safe and sound like Vash himself was looking over her.


	4. Bad news

**This chapter's all to my most loyal reviewer, Ayumi Kudou! (Oh yesh, I love "The Eastward Road", how'd you know!)  
China's gonna be in here soon, don't worry!  
**

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**IV. Bad news  
Mid September- ish  
**  
Vash came back the next night when Liechtenstein was sewing quietly by herself. He looked stressed and unhappy. Liechtenstein could tell by the glower on his face that he was going to tell her some bad news.

"Liechtenstein..." He sat down next to her.

She glanced up at him with weary eyes.

"I can't stay with you for long. I have to leave again, permanently, in two days. There is... A lot of neutral countries are suspecting of a war starting sometime around the next year. There have been rumors about a force more powerful than all of us combined, and..."

"You're gonna have to leave, big brother, I know. It's your duty." Liechtenstein put a hand on her brother's arm, hiding her face behind the curtain of blonde hair that covered her cheeks as she looked down. She didn't want Switzerland to see the tears. He'd be back soon, wouldn't he?

"Liechtenstein..." He put out a hand and lifted up her chin, wiping away the tears while flushing slightly. "It's really dangerous. We really have to take caution against this. We can't tell the other nations because they'd just break out into a fight over the smallest details. And for this, we're all gonna need to bond together." The unspoken words hung in the dense air. He'd miss her, but he wouldn't say it. And she'd miss him. But for Liechtenstein, it was more than just that. War? That would be horrible! And war against some strange unwordly force?

"Don't let me be in your way, then. You should leave soon. I'll be okay." She stood up, brushing past his open arms and hurt emerald eyes and locked herself inside her room. She knew that she would miss Switzerland terribly, but she wouldn't be the one to keep him from going. Not only did he take her in but he also was the closest person to her. Although accepting the fact that he really did need to go, she was scared of losing Switzerland to the talks of war. She was scared of losing neutrality. She was scared of the darkness. But most of all, she was scared that Switzerland'd forget her, that wars would break out and she'd perish. And, and...

Switzerland left not long after that, and Liechtenstein took his place at the world meeting following that day. She noticed that a lot of nations were missing, but other than that, she didn't pay as much attention as she usually would. She had taken a seat next to China, and listened to his conversation with mild interest. But although she seemed to be alert as always, her mind was elsewhere.

After the meeting, she wandered outside without Sealand or Iceland by her side, and started the long walk home. Not paying attention to her surroundings, she tripped over a pile of leaves and landed on her face. For some reason, the emptiness in her stomach welled over and she started to tear up quietly, not bothering to get up out of the pile of dirty leaves. And to add to her luck, it started storming. She curled up on the leaves, her eyes shut tightly.

There was a hole in her chest and everything was pouring out. But why? Switzerland would be fine, wouldn't he? Why did she feel like something bad would happen?

With the next struck of lightning, she saw a figure walking toward her. Squinting her eyes, she recognized Japan with a worried look on his usually expressionless face. His raven colored hair was tousled by the wind as he leaned down, holding an umbrella over her and an extended hand out to her without saying a word.

She accepted it, letting him pull her up. Japan supported her with one hand. "Would you like to come to my house? I heard about Switzerland and the other nations. I guess they are finding out about some war, and you are left home alone. If you would like some company..."

"I'd love to." She told him, her broken voice slowly regaining strength. "Thank you. Arigato."

"No problem." He blushed slightly and led Liechtenstein the opposite way toward his house. Liechtenstein followed Japan, her eyes kept on the rain pounding on the pavement. Normally, she'd have enjoyed the chance to meet another nation, but it seemed like everything had changed in the course of a day. Why was she feeling so badly?

They soon arrived at Japan's cozy house. Japan sat her in his living room on a red striped pillow-thing and went away to make tea. Liechtenstein observed his room with slight curiosity. There were many calligraphic words on his wall, but she couldn't read any of them. The room had little furniture, and it looked bright and hearty to her. From the looks of it, Japan was a nice person. She was sure her brother wouldn't disapprove.

Her brother... but he wouldn't even be around to disapprove. Wasn't that right?

When Japan came in carrying two cups of tea, he saw Liechtenstein collapsed at the table. Her head was buried in her arms. When he neared, she lifted her face and peered at him with tired, reddened eyes. Japan, slightly alarmed, sat down beside her and handed her a cup of tea.

"This will help you, I think."

She accepted it with a small thank you, and wrapped her dainty little hands around it.

"You can always stay with me while your big brother is away." He finally told her. Although he greatly preferred his personal space, he couldn't find the heart to turn Liechtenstein away. He knew from his little knowledge of the nation that she didn't like to be alone, but she'd never say so.

"Thank you, but I must stay at the house." She didn't say why, but he thought he understood. It was the duty of a sibling.

There were no conversations for a while. Japan sipped his tea slowly, watching as the dim lights colored her hair and made the lavender ribbon shine. He didn't really know how to comfort Liechtenstein, but he saw from the way her eyes finally brightened that his silence had been of enough comfort. As Liechtenstein left, traces of her tears barely visible and a smile lingering at her lips, he smiled and bid her good bye. He realized that maybe, just maybe, he really enjoyed Liechtenstein's company.


	5. Alfred and hamburgers

**Once more, I dedicate everything to my reviewers! This story is all for you!**

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**V. Alfred and hamburgers  
Late September**

Liechtenstein awoke the next morning with a throbbing pain in her head. She changed into her normal rosy red dress and padded into the kitchen to find Switzerland, when she remembered that he wasn't there. He wouldn't be back for a while.

She opened the refrigerator and took out a hamburger. Briefly, she wondered what it was doing in her fridge, but she ate it anyway. And then came cleaning time. Liechtenstein dutifully searched the house for cleaning supplies and settled for scrubbing the house squeaky clean. She wanted everything to look neat for when Switzerland would return. Humming to herself to push away the feeling of creeping loneliness, she dusted the library and blew out the fireplace before leaving to work on the garden.

Surprisingly, when she opened the door, she found a basket of hamburgers on the front step.

"These must be America's." She murmured, taking the basket in her hands. After surveying the garden, she decided that it was nice enough and set out to find America instead. Maybe they could go somewhere fun. Or if he wasn't home, she'd try looking for Italy. Oh, of course she couldn't forget Sealand and Iceland either.

When she arrived at America's front steps, she found that the door was already open. Curious, she peeked in and found no one in sight. Liechtenstein strained her ears, listening for any sounds, but she heard none except for some yelling somewhere upstairs. Following her curiosity for once, she padded over the carpeted floor, closing the door carefully behind her, and walked up the spiral staircase.

"America?" She stopped in front of the door where the yelling seemed to be loudest. Liechtenstein had guessed that maybe he was on his cell phone, but now she could hear that there was another person in the room with him. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but...

"You can't do that!" Liechtenstein recognized Viet Nam's voice. Her eyebrows instantly creased together. What were they talking about?

"I'm not weak. I can take care of myself. You'll just ruin everything. And France- isn't he on your side?"

"But I... I can help. I can't just stand to the side and do nothing." Alfred's voice sounded so desperate that Lilli just wanted to give him a hug.

"I can do this on my own, so no thanks. And guess what Alfred?" Viet Nam's voice was filled with rage and angry pride. "You're not anyone's hero."

Liechtenstein listened to the silence that followed Viet Nam's declaration. She heard ragged breathing- boy, how she loved her keen ears- and then heard the sound of something falling to the ground and shattering into pieces. And then the door to the room was whipped open with a chilling gust of wind. Liechtenstein pressed herself against the hallway wall, embarrassed to be found listening in on the conversation, but Viet Nam rushed by so quickly that she didn't even glance at Liechtenstein. The petite blonde girl let out a giant breath as she heard the front door open and then slam close with a bang.

Finally, she leaned to the side of the door hesitantly and peered in. There was Alfred, sitting on the floor, the ruins of a broken lamp by his side. He was staring at nothingness, and Liechtenstein detected the hint of all too bright blue eyes. On instinct, she rushed toward him.

She dropped the hamburger basket on the ground and knelt down by his side. "America?" Lilli hesitantly tugged on the sleeve of his bomber jacket until he raised his eyes to look at her. She felt terrible seeing his blue eyes fill up with tears.

"Hey there Liechtenstein." He greeted her, managing a weak smile. "I, uh..."

"Just calm down, alright?" She told him, giving his shoulder a pat before kneeling in front of the broken vase. She gathered the broken pieces in her hands, careful not to let them cut the skin, and took them to a trash bin in the corner. After that, she discovered a broom lying messily in the hallway and took it to sweep the glass to a corner of the room. She didn't want to just leave the pieces there, but it was the best she could do in such a situation.

"Alfred?" Liechtenstein asked again as she sat down next to him once more. He seemed considerately less broken than he was before, although the shimmering of tears was still fresh in his blue eyes.

"I'm fine." He said, although he must have known that it was undeniable that he was just the opposite of fine.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" She asked him quietly, resting an arm on his shoulder.

"I wanted to help Viet Nam with her war, so I invited her here. But then she got angry and said that she was independent and strong enough to protect herself." He looked at her with a knowing spark in his eyes. "You were listening out there, right?"

Liechtenstein nodded guiltily. "I'm sorry." She said, looking to the ground. But America just chuckled slightly.

"It's ok." He told her, and suddenly she remembered what Viet Nam had told him just before she left.

_"You're not anyone's hero."_ She'd said, and now Liechtenstein could imagine why America was feeling so badly.

"Hey Alfred?" She said, and he turned to her, resting his bright blue eyes on her green one. "You're a hero."

America didn't say a word, but he cracked a smile. It was comforting to see him smile through the tears. After a moment of silence, though, he cocked his head at her.

"What brought you here?" He asked. Liechtenstein pointed to the basket of hamburgers lying beside the door.

"I found these on my front steps. Are they yours?"

He nodded. "I left them there for you. You seemed to enjoy cheeseburgers the other day, so I brought you some."

At this, Liechtenstein giggled sheepishly. "You shouldn't have." She told him with a smile, and reached up to remove his glasses and wipe the rest of his tears away.


	6. What's the plan?

**This chapter's a bit of a filler. It's gonna hint at what's going on and the following chapters will most likely be closely linked with this. Enjoy~!  
**

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**VI. What's the plan?**

China walked toward the house known as Russia's, feeling like the exact definition of _dread_.

What could the Russian man want from him? Sure, he was one of his friends, but this just seemed too strange, too suspicious. As China neared the house, he was sure that he could hear the sound of breaking glass. His panda flinched behind his back.

When he knocked on the door, a bruised and trembling Latvia opened the door for him. He greeted the small nation and stepped in the house, where the temperature became considerably colder. Although he was used to coming to Russia's house, this time he felt something different, almost too melodramatic, like something bad would strike him soon. Passing by Lithuania in the kitchen, he briefly wondered how he still had the nerve to stay friends with such a ruthless and mysterious man.

"Russia, aru?" he peered into Russia's office and found him arranging a vase of sunflowers by the window. The Russian smiled at China with the innocence and joy of a young child. Warily, China set the basket with his panda near the door and plopped into a chair. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Russia sent him a level gaze before coming to sit across from him. Coming straight to the point, he held up a photo for China to see.

"Liechtenstein?" China questioned. The petite blonde girl in the picture was indeed Liechtenstein, and it seemed like the picture had been secretly captured. Lilli didn't even seem aware that her picture was being taken, and was walking along the road, smiling at her companion, Iceland.

"Da. Her brother's letting her come to the world meeting now, so I-"

"How'd you get this picture?" China asked, confusion clearly written on his face. Russia shifted but kept his violet gaze on him.

"That doesn't matter. What I was saying is that... well, I've began noticing Liechtenstein more lately. She seems to have an aura of power around her. Sure, she seems weak, but she has a bold personality. It's very subtle but if you really look, da, you can sense that it's there."

China didn't understand a word. He didn't understand why Russia would want to talk to him about these issues. And as for Liechtenstein, he'd never paid close interest to her, but now she stood out in his mind. He found himself searching for the sense of power she had, but his knowledge of her was too little to be of any help. "Why tell me all this, aru?"

"You are my friend, da? And we are allies. So I want you to do me a little favor."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, China nodded for Russia to carry on.

"I want you to talk to Liechtenstein and become friends with her. I want you to tell Liechtenstein all the good things about me."

"Why?" It was as if he was sinking deeper and deeper into quicksand. The more Russia talked, the less he could understand.

"I want her to trust you. And then when you've become good enough friends, I want you to bring her to me. I shall make her become one with me. She has such a strange source of power, and-"

"Wait, hold on, aru. I can't help manipulate someone else into becoming one with you." _Especially not sweet, innocent Liechtenstein._ "And why don't you do it yourself, then?"

"Because I want her to know that I'm not some intimidating creature. That we can become one and rule the world. And you, you are my friend, and so you shall help, da?"

"I..." China's voice trailed off. To tell the truth, if it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have hesitated so much. It was his duty to return his favors after Russia had helped him through so many wars. But this was Liechtenstein, and he didn't want to rupture such a fragile soul. He didn't want to hurt Liechtenstein in any way, and he knew he would be hurting her if he agreed with Russia's plan. But could he even refuse?

A menacing purple aura surrounded Russia. "You shall help, da?' he repeated. China looked down at his lap, sensing that he really was in a helpless position, and nodded meekly.

"I'll see what I can do." He said, and quickly gathered his things and almost ran out of the house before Russia exploded into one of his moods. He'd have given anything to be somewhere else but there.

China quickly walked away from the house back toward his own, all the while thinking of what he could do. He'd agreed to the plan, and now he had to carry it out. He couldn't believe that he had been scared into doing what Ivan wanted him to do. He felt like a disgusting creature, coming to befriend a girl like Liechtenstein and then leaving her to the hands of her captor.

But what could he do?

"This is bad, aru." He told his panda. It wiggled in response. "I do owe Ivan a lot, and I can at least help him out on this. I do wish it was anyone but Liechtenstein, though. I can't..."

The panda nudged him with its head and China took that as a sign of comfort. So he had to do it then. He had to go through with his deal without any conflicting emotions. At least after that he'd be free. He couldn't help feeling that it just wasn't right, but he had no choice now. He had to do it.

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**If Russia is suddenly starting to seem like a bad guy, remember, he really isn't. You'll see why later on... **


	7. Meeting Romano

**So by now, all of the characters that are gonna become closely linked with Liechtenstein have been mentioned. Except for Romano, but he's appearing in this chapter.  
****Note: This fic isn't history-related in any way, but if anything just sounds too unlikely, tell me and I'll fix it. Enjoy!  
**

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**VII. Meeting Romano**

Liechtenstein stepped out of her house, careful not to let the door slam, and set her gardening tools on the ground. Switzerland had been gone for days, and she could only hope that he was safe and sound wherever he was. She had been busy during the past few days delivering his paperwork to various countries, and now she could relax and take care of his beautiful garden for him. She wanted Switzerland to come home to the prettiest little garden he'd ever seen.

Dropping to her knees, she began pulling weeds out of the ground. There weren't many, as the garden was always taken care of, and so she moved on to watering all the plants. She arranged the colorful flowers neatly around their leaves and almost flounced around the garden in her serenity. Spending time in the garden reminded her of her big brother, and that assured her that he was alright.

Soon, the weeds had all been thrown away and the tools carefully put back where they belong. Liechtenstein once more set out to the garden with her sewing kit, preferring to sit and sew in the sunlight to staying inside the big, empty house. It was strange that after she had gotten over the fact that Switzerland really would be gone for a while, she didn't seem to miss him that much anymore. But her emotions were like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes they were up, but at times, it seemed like there was something big missing in her life.

She let herself ponder of the great dark force Vash had talked about before he left. What could be so powerful that it could destroy the whole planet? Surely Vash was just overreacting, right? And-

"Liechtenstein, ve!" Lilli glanced up from her sewing to see an excited Italian tramping over her brother's garden. She wondered what had given him so much enthusiasm.

"Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein! My brother Romano just came back from brother Spain's house and I want you to come meet him. You can spend the day at my house, and we can make pasta, ve?" Italy came toward her and grabbed the sewing kit from her hands, setting them down on the bench before pulling her up to her feet.

"Um, ok. Sure!" Liechtenstein obliged, letting Feliciano pull her away from her house and out onto the street. She wasn't sure what the excitement was all about, and from what she'd heard of Romano, he was quite a strange person. But her curiosity pushed away all complaints.

"I bet Romano wants to meet you. I told him about you last night and about how Switzerland had left. He didn't really say anything, but I bet he really wanted to see you."

"Are you sure about that?" Liechtenstein giggled, linking her arm through Feli's. She herself wasn't too sure of Romano.

Italy's face turned thoughtful. "I don't know, but if that was me, I sure would want to meet you!" He turned to give her a sunny smile, and Lilli had to laugh with him.

On the way to Italy's house, they passed by China, who turned to give Lilli a wave. Smiling cheerfully, she waved back at him before running forward to catch up with Feliciano. They arrived at a cozy little house and were greeted by the sight of a glowering Romano. "Veneziano, what did I tell you? Is this another one of your German speaking potato loving bastard friend?"

"This is Liechtenstein. I told you about her yesterday, remember?" Italy's voice was cheerful as always.

"Ja. I am Liechtenstein." Lilli grabbed on to the ends of her dress and did a slight curtsy. "How are you Romano?"

Only when she looked up did she find that Romano seemed a bit too flustered. "You don't have to be so polite." He muttered, turning away when she caught his eye.

"Ve, let's go make pasta!" Italy interrupted, grabbing onto Liechtenstein's hand and abruptly pulling her into the kitchen. A chaotic sight greeted her. There was flour everywhere, and measuring utensils were strung all over the place. Lilli could smell the delicious scent of pizza baking in the oven.

"Romano, you were making pizza?" Italy asked his brother, who had grudgingly followed them into the kitchen. He nodded, and bent down to look at the oven.

"It's ready." He announced, and pulled out a freshly made pizza. Liechtenstein had never smelled a nicer aroma.

"Let's eat, ve? Then we could make some pasta for you to bring home, Liechtenstein!" Italy tugged Liechtenstein to a table and pulled out the chair for her. Giggling, she sat down in it and pulled him down on the chair next to her.

"Take a seat, Romano." She smiled at the Southern personification of Italy, and sat him on her other side.

The pizza wasn't like anything Liechtenstein had ever tasted before. The cheese was rich and had just the right amount of cheesiness. The crust was warm with the sweet scent of a loaf of bread fresh from the oven. And the tomato sauce beneath the layer of cheese was just perfect! Lilli savored every bite, making it seem like she hadn't eaten in days.

"This is amazing!" She told Romano, who looked up at her in surprise.

"Y- You really think so? I mean, of course it's amazing." He turned a strange shade of red and stuffed the rest of his slice into his mouth instead of looking at her. Liechtenstein didn't seem to notice as she turned away to take another piece.

When the pizza was all gone, Italy stood up from his chair. "Hey, did you know my fratello has a tomato garden? Come, I'll show you, ve!" Italy offered his hand and Liechtenstein took it, although Romano seemed a bit uneasy.

"I- ah, you'd better not go out there." He quickly stood up and planted himself in front of the kitchen door.

"But your garden is so amazing! I just want to show Liechtenstein." Italy came to a stop in front of the door, a frown upon his lips.

"Ja, I do want to see it, if you don't mind." Liechtenstein's eyebrows knitted together. Was there a reason that Romano didn't want her to see his garden?

"No, I mean, yes, I do mind. I mean- Veneziano, come back!" Romano instantly chased after his brother, who had taken to pulling Liechtenstein along with him toward the direction of the garden.

"Don't go there! There's a..." Romano huffed as he reached out to grab at Liechtenstein's sleeve. It was all too late, he knew, as Italy swept open the door to a garden of bright red tomatoes.

"It looks so pretty!" Liechtenstein stepped forward into the garden, but had barely taken three steps when suddenly she disappeared.

"Liechtenstein!" Italy rushed toward the giant hole in the ground, with a nervous Romano by his side. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Lilli clutched at her dress as she shakily got on her feet again. "I think I'm fine." She searched around for a way to get out, but there was none.

"That's the reason why I told you not to come in here. The hole was supposed to be for Spain." Romano muttered, and then got down on his knees with a sigh. "Grab my hand." He told Liechtenstein, who stared up at him with a look of half curiosity and half fear.

"I won't bite or anything." He grumbled, and finally she reached out for him. Romano felt something strange when the little blonde girl took his hand, but he didn't say anything. Grunting, he pulled her up to the ground, where Italy was standing with his hands on his knees, examining Liechtenstein with a worried look.

"Are you okay?" Italy asked as soon as Liechtenstein had withdrawn her hand. She nodded to show him that she was fine, and dusted off her dress. Romano suddenly felt like such a bad person. He hadn't wanted her to fall down into that hole that was meant for Spain. Once more, he'd made a fool of himself.

"Come back inside, Liechtenstein." Italy urged, and she nodded once before following him back into the house. Romano stood staring at Liechtenstein's back, but suddenly she broke free of Feliciano's grip and tugged on his hand.

"Let's go Romano. You wouldn't want to fall down into that hole, would you?" She sent him such a sincere smile like nothing had gone wrong, like it wasn't his fault she had fallen.

"I... you're not mad at me?" He gaped at her. If other nations had been in her case, he knew they would either yell at him or ignore him. But Liechtenstein just looked at him with a look so pure that he felt like maybe she really didn't think of him badly.

"Of course not. And anyway, I was the one that went against your warning and came out to the garden. So it's partly my fault." She smiled once more and Romano suddenly felt like he was melting away.

As they arrived back in the kitchen hallway, Liechtenstein seemed to be worried about something. She glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Oh! It's late. I've got to deliver some papers for Switzerland. Sorry I can't stay longer." Italy nodded his understanding and opened the door for her, and Liechtenstein stepped out with a farewell smile on her face. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle like pretty lights in the sun, Romano noticed, and then he had to mentally slap himself for noticing.

"Do you mind if I come back later?" She asked, this time looking directly at Romano. He blushed slightly under her gaze.

"I don't mind. And... I'm sorry for that accident out in the garden." He told her, finally getting the words out of his mouth. But she just smiled once more.

"It's no big deal. I'll see you later!" And with that, Romano watched as Liechtenstein's slim figure quickly walked away and disappeared from his line of sight. He found himself wishing that she could have stayed a little longer so he can make up for what he had done, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away. It wasn't like he wanted to become friends with another German speaking, potato-loving bas- person, right?

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**The character introductions are over, and now we're gonna start getting into the thicker plot! Yay! Thank you to my reviewers once more! (That one comment saying China was gonna turn into a stalker made me laugh so hard xD)  
I feel like maybe I should do something to thank you guys. Maybe a one shot about your favorite Hetalia pairing? Maybe.**


	8. Back to where we met

**I'm back with another chapter! It's all thanks to my reviewers that I'm getting these up so quickly.  
(To Ayumi Kudou: I'll put up the one shot as soon as I can.)  
Note: Once again, I want to say that Russia isn't really a bad person. He might seem a bit strange right now, but there's a reason for that.  
Cheers and enjoy the chapter!  
**

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**VIII. Back to where we met  
Mid October (A bit of a time skip here)  
**

Vash had been gone for almost a month now. Liechtenstein enjoyed the company of her new friends, especially cheerful and exuberant Italy, but without her brother to greet her at home each night, she still felt quite lonely. Even Prussia had stopped coming to babysit when he received a letter to meet up with Switzerland. Liechtenstein often pondered what was going on and if there was really any danger, and especially when Vash would be coming back to her. She missed him.

When she woke up one morning, it was raining hard. Looking over at her to-do list, she found that she had a pile of important paperwork to deliver to China at about noon. It was still early morning, so she didn't worry about that. Instead of getting out of bed and cleaning up like always, she moved to the window and watched the pouring rain. The taps on the window calmed her just a bit, but they reminded her once more that she was all by herself in the big, empty house. She really did wish Switzerland was there with her.

Finally, Liechtenstein slid out of bed and changed into one of her usual dresses. She ate a quick breakfast in the kitchen and grabbed the pile of paperwork labeled "China". She wanted to get out of the house as soon as she could. Keeping herself busy distracted her from the wandering thoughts of Switzerland. With an umbrella in her hand, she locked the door and started down the road to China's house.

Along the way, she saw Russia with a bouquet of sunflowers. He half turned to look at her, give her a smile, and then quickly rushed away. Dumbstruck, she halted in the middle of the street. That was strange. Liechtenstein gave herself a little shrug before continuing on her way to China's house.

Passing by the bushes, she suddenly heard a suspicious rustling sound. It reminded her of that night back in September, and she backed away in fear. Was someone following her around? Standing a safe distance away, Liechtenstein spotted the glint of something silver under the bushes. Her emerald eyes widened as she finally saw what it was- the edge of a pocketknife.

"Stay away from my big brother!" A low voice, almost like a growl, came from somewhere behind the bushes. Liechtenstein let out a startled gasp and clutched at the ends of her dress, running as fast as she could toward the direction of China's house. There was... someone following her! Not sure if the sound of tapping on the pavement behind her was the rain or footsteps, she urged herself to run faster. Away from the insane threatener.

She halted in front of China's door and gave it a few frantic knocks. As she waited for the door to open, she kept taking glances behind her. Her little heart beat like a hummingbird's.

"Hey there, Liechtenstein. What-" China was cut off as Liechtenstein pushed through the doorway and threw herself at him. His amber eyes widened as he took in the sight of Liechtenstein. Her blonde hair was messy and her dress was splattered all over with mud and rain.

"What happened?" He asked, guiding the trembling girl into his livingroom. He removed her wet umbrella from her tight grip and sat down beside her. Liechtenstein was still shaking, although either with fear or coldness, he didn't know.

The blonde girl clutched onto his sleeve and started telling him about the psychotic person waiting in the bushes outside of the house. China realized with a start that the person must have Belarus. Ever since he'd taken Russia's plan upon him, Belarus had been acting strangely, expecially like sending Liechtenstein and him dark looks during the meetings. And she was more attached to her brother than ever. But would she really go as far as to hurt Liechtenstein?

"Hey, it's okay now, aru." China smiled reassuringly at Liechtenstein, and watched as she blinked away the hints of tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine now, thank you." She gave him a shaky smile and took something out from the little bag she had slung over her shoulder. "Switzy wanted me to deliver these to you."

China accepted the portfolio and set it down on the counter beside him. "Thanks, aru. Wait here, I'll go make some tea for you." As he left for the kitchen, his eyebrows drawn together. Was he supposed to bring the innocent, sweet little Liechtenstein to Russia? He really dreaded that part of his plan. He'd originally planned to just get to know her, no feelings involved, and then bring her to Russia. No one would suspect him of anything. But the more he talked to her, the more he realized that she wasn't just an innocent young girl. She was intelligent, she was graceful, she lit up a whole room when she walked into it. He didn't want to hand her over to Russia, in fact... he sometimes felt like he wanted to keep her all to himself. He wanted to protect her with everything he had. But that wasn't right. He had to complete his deal.

So China walked back into the livingroom with a teapot and two cups of tea balancing on a tray, his expression unfathomable. He was just going to talk to her and see what she already knew of Russia, and then maybe he'd be able to tell Ivan that Liechtenstein wanted nothing to do with him. And then maybe Ivan would drop the whole deal.

"China, be careful!" Liechtenstein called, and before he knew it, the tray had slipped out of his hand. But he didn't hear the crashing of his precious teacups. Instead, as he steadied himself, he found Liechtenstein holding the tray in one hand and holding his wrist with the other.

"There's some water on the ground. You were about to trip." She gestured to the puddle of water lying right in front of him.

"Ah- Thank you, aru." He breathed a sigh of relief and took the tray from her delicate little hands. Was it just him or could she also feel the strange spark when their fingers met?

"I, uh, I want to talk to you about Russia." He immediately told her after fumbling with the tea. It was better to get it over with. "What do you think of him?"

Liechtenstein's face gained a thoughtful look. "I haven't really spoken to Russia, but he seems like a nice guy."

Of course he seemed like a nice guy, until he wanted you to become one with him. China could tell that Liechtenstein had very limited knowledge of the Russian, and she wouldn't be aware of any danger until Russia decided to rupture her innocent core. He didn't want that to happen at all.

"Why?" Liechtenstein's sweet voice brought him back to reality.

"It's nothing. I just wanted to know your opinion." He avoided her searching green gaze. The truth was that Russia expected him to have Liechtenstein over by the end of the night, and he just couldn't figure out what to do.

"Oh. Okay." Lilli reached out for her cup and took a little sip. She stayed with him for a while, but eventually she had to leave for home. China offered to escort her back, but she insisted that she'd be fine.

"It's not like whoever's waiting out there is still there, right?" She added a small laugh to her sentence and reached out to hug China. He immediately tured red and fumbled with closing the door behind her. As soon as she left, he collapsed on the couch. How was he supposed to just hand Liechtenstein over to Russia now?

Meanwhile, Liechtenstein was walking back to her house in the insistent rain. Passing by the alley where Switzerland had first found her, she felt a longing to revisit it. Taking delicate steps around the broken cobblestones, she walked through the clustered path through the wet alley. There were so many good memories that she smiled to herself. Her big brother would always be by her side, no matter how far away he was.

But her smile slowly faded away with the next crack of lightning. She sudddenly felt so exhausted, like all the work she'd done in the past weeks to keep haunting thoughts out her mind had caught up to her. As childish as her thoughts were, she couldn't help but gaze hopefully among the ruins. A slight moment of wishful thinking drew her to the same wall she had once collapsed on. Maybe she was hoping to find a trace of Switzerland left.

The wind tugged at her umbrella and suddenly it escaped from her grip. Liechtenstein panicked, racing after the umbrella. It was one of Vash's most treasured one, the one he had spent the most money on. She didn't want to lose it.

A flash of lightning struck across the dark sky and she found that the umbrella was nowhere to be seen. Drained of strength, she slid against the nearest wall, soaked, and finding the memories of that day stronger than ever. Hadn't it been raining when he found her, too? She had almost perished, then.

Rainwater poured down her cheeks. Or was it something else? A sharp prod at her legs showed her that she had found her umbrella, and she took the battered thing in her hands. Without knowing the reason why, Liechtenstein broke down into tears. She cried for everything she longed for. She wanted comfort, yet would never ask for it. This was a side of her that no one was allowed to see. The ever worrying, insecure, weak side. The unhappy side.

A clank made her look up. Was that...

"Please don't shoot!" Italy's amber brown eyes squinted into the rain until he located the bent blonde head. Liechtenstein, opposite him, watched through half closed lids as he made his way toward her, yelling concerned things she barely paid attention to. She remembered how Vash had bashed through the rain at her, too.

"Liechtenstein! Are you okay, ve?" Italy leaned down, his hands propped on his knees, when he realized in alarm that she was slowly losing consciousness. Suddenly, a gasp escaped Liechtenstein as she felt herself being picked up by the Italian nation. Italy wasn't strong, but when it came to helping his friends, he had just the right amount of strength.

Liechtenstein was finally aware of her surroundings when Italy set a steaming bowl of pasta in front of her.

"There's something wrong, ve. You must tell me." He looked at her with a worried gaze.

Liechtenstein's fork shook as she brought it to her lips. "I'm fine, Feli."

The usually cheerful and admittedly dumb Italian was now anything but. He worried for his friend. "There is something wrong. Why were you in the rain like that? Please tell me, Lilli, I can help you."

With another pause, Liechtenstein finally looked up.

"I just feel like... something's gonna go wrong." She dropped her fork back into the bowl and leaned back against Italy instead.

"It's not selfish to want a friend." He gave her a small smile. "You know I'll always be your friend. If anything goes wrong, we can fix it together."

"It'll all turn out alright, you'll see, ve." Liechtenstein nodded, leaning slightly on Italy's shoulder. Soon, she had fallen asleep, exhausted, against the Italian nation. Neither of them were aware of the pair of guilty eyes watching from outside the window.

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**Suspense! (I think)  
There's gonna be a lot of action in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned!**


	9. A plan carried out

**This chapter's gonna be pretty short, as it is just a filler chapter.  
Shout out to my reviewers! If it wasn't for you, right now I'd probably be moping around the house, thinking of when I'd get enough energy to sit down and type a few words and fix them to create a story. It's your reviews that make me so psyched to update and continue writing the story. Not that I'd quit this story if there were no reviews, just that I'd be getting the chapters out like once a month. Like... you know what I mean ^^**

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**IX. A plan carried out**

China peered in the window at the two young nations resting peacefully on the couch. He knew it was wrong to do what he would eventually have to do, but he had no choice. He had to stick to his promise. But Liechtenstein was so sweet and she'd been so kind to him, and he didn't want anything more than just to protect her. But he couldn't. Hadn't he told himself to just go with the plan without any feelings? Because he knew that feelings of any kind would eventually lead to this.

He watched Liechtenstein as she shifted in her sleep and burried her face in Italy's shoulder. He wished that he was in the Italian's position. Yet that could never happen, could it?

"Don't just gawk. Take her now!" A low snarl behind him made him jump. He whirled around quickly to see knife-wielding Belarus standing directly behind him.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered frantically. She wasn't supposed to be there. He was the one supposed to bring Liechtenstein to Russia, and only him.

"I heard my big brother had a job for you to carry out. I wanted to make sure you pleased him by perfecting your mission." Belarus smirked. "I see that you're too cowardly to do it. Why not let me take over?"

Alarm bells rang in China's head. If Belarus did take over his job, she would definitely find a way to hurt Liechtenstein. He knew the platinum haired girl with the crazy grin had no plan to let Liechtenstein peacefully become one with her own beloved brother.

"I can handle this myself, thanks." He said curtly, and proceeded to lifting the light window and climbing in quietly. He breathed a sigh of relief when Belarus didn't follow, and walked toward Liechtenstein. He paused before her, wondering if there was a gentler way he could do the job. Maybe he could just wake her up and bring her over to Russia so she can get to know the bigger nation. And then he could safely take her away when she refused Russia's offer.

"There's no dawdling in a kidnapping mission." Belarus's voice nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Why are you still here?" He glared at her after having pulled himself together. "Why don't you just go back to Russia or something?"

Belarus ignored him and leaned down beside Liechtenstein and Italy. "She's exhausted, so she probably won't wake up. And as for Italy... he's having his little siesta at the wrong time." China got the hint and sighed, leaning down beside her. He'd have to break Liechtenstein's hold on Italy and get her to Russia's house while she was still unconscious. She'd probably wake up with a horrible scare, but at least she wouldn't know it was him that had helped Russia.

Actually, right then, he didn't care whether or not he was the one that brought her to Russia. All he cared about was that she stayed far away from the childishly evil nation. But by then, it was too late.

"Pry off her fingers." Belarus instructed, pointing to Liechtenstein's hands, which were closed tightly around Italy's arm. Stiffling an immature remark, he tried to pull Lilli's fingers away from the fabric of Italy's arm, but she had a tight grip. It was almost as if she wanted to protect the Italian nation.

"I can't..." He started to say, when Belarus reached over and wrenched Liechtenstein's little fingers away.

"I have a better idea. We'll take both of them. Two for the price of one." She grinned wickedly once more, and knelt down to pull Liechtenstein over her shoulders. China blocked her path and took Liechtenstein in his arms instead. If Belarus was the one carrying Lilli, she'd most likely drop the blonde nation "by accident". He didn't trust her.

With Liechtenstein secured on his back, he slowly walked to Russia's house, aware of Belarus trudging behind with Italy. He dreaded every little step. Maybe he could just talk to Russia about letting go of the plan. There were plenty of nations, why Liechtenstein?

Russia greeted him at the door, smiling widely. Although he seemed a bit nervous that Belarus had followed, he didn't mention it and just took China up the stairs into an empty room. It was furnished with only a little sofa in the corner, where China set Liechtenstein down.

"Why is Italy here?" He turned to Belarus, who had dropped the pasta-loving nation right on the ground.

"I figured, why not take both of them? If Liechtenstein doesn't meet up to your expectations, which I bet she won't, you can still take the weak Italian. And if that doesn't work, you have me." She flashed a smile, to which Russia replied with a frightened half-grin before he turned to China.

"You can go now. You are free, da. There are no more debts to be paid."

He looked at Liechtenstein warily. "Promise that you won't hurt her, aru. Just ask her whatever it is you want, and if she refuses, let her go, okay?"

"Da, I will. I promise." Russia gave him an attempt at a friendly smile and ushered him out the door. China finally stood alone in the dark of the night, wondering if he had done the right thing or not. Eventually, he started the long walk home. He had gotten a bit more than halfway when he had a strange, nagging feeling.

If he remembered correctly, Russia wasn't one to stick to promises.

With that thought in mind, he immediately turned around to run back to Russia's place. And he hoped that he wasn't too late.

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**The action starts next chapter! Yay!**


	10. Held captive

**To my readers: Of course I'm not going to update once a month. (That was meant to be sarcasm, in which I obviously failed xD) In fact, I'll try to update as much as possible, probably a chapter everyday or two.  
I'm glad you guys are enjoying this fic, and I'm especially pleased that it's good enough to turn you into ItaLiech lovers. ItaLiech is my favorite pairing ever, and it's probably gonna be ItaLiech in the end... I think.  
Anyways, just a notice that Russia may seem a bit OOC this chapter. I'm not very good at writing him. He may seem evil at the moment, but I promise you that it isn't going to turn out like that.  
Enjoy!  
**

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**X. Held captive**

"Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein! Liechtenstein, wake up!"

Lilli opened her eyes blearily to see Italy tugging on her sleeve, an expression of fear etched across his features. Suddenly alarmed, she sat upright and blinked at the room, her features slowly twisting in confusion. Where were they?

She was sitting on a faded couch, and Italy was clutching to her arm, looking terrified. The room was otherwise empty, and she noticed that the window was barred. She removed Italy's hand and got up to try the door. After jiggling the knob a few times, she realized that it was locked.

Her heart started to beat faster. "Where are we?" She whirled around to look at Italy, who had gotten up to follow her.

He returned her gaze with frightened brown eyes. "I don't know, ve. We're going to be stuck in here forever and ever and ever!"

Before she could reply, there was a clicking sound in the lock. Liechtenstein instinctively reached out in fear toward Italy and took a few steps back from the door. It swung open to reveal the tall man known as Russia.

Liechtenstein stared at him, not knowing what to think. Was he her captor, or had he come to rescue her?

Italy quickly answered that question. "Russia's here!" He started shaking in fear, and Liechtenstein looked at Russia in confusion. Why was Italy so scared of him? To speak the truth, he seemed pretty nice.

"Liechtenstein, did you have a good sleep?" He asked her, sending Italy a dark look. Suspicion started building up inside her. It was clear now that he was the one that had locked her inside this room, but what for?

She didn't answer him but instead took a step back.

"Liechtenstein, you don't have to be afraid, da." He gave her a smile that seemed so reassuring that she was starting to think over her thoughts. Maybe he was going to release them. Maybe he really wasn't as bad as people thought he was.

"Liechtenstein..." Italy squeezed her hand, and once more, she spotted the glare full of hatred directed at the Italian. Did the two nations hate each other for some reason?

Russia took a step forward. She took a step back.

"Well, Liechtenstein, I brought you here for a reason." He paused right in front of her, and she suddenly saw the hunger for power in his violet eyes. "Become one with me, da? Together we can be the strongest nation in the world." He reached for her hand, and she hesitated. Vash had told her to be careful of Russia and his demands to become one, but he'd never really explained to her what becoming one meant. The way Russia had said it, could it have been a good thing?

"If you are one with me, we can-"

"Liechtenstein, no!" Italy glared at Russia with as much hatred as his gentle features would allow. He protectively pulled Liechtenstein to his side, and she saw that he was trembling with fear, but was trying hard not to show it. He was trying to be brave for her.

"I'm sorry, Russia. But I decline your offer." She told him as politely as she could, maneuvering around to try to get to the door. "We really must get going now."

The Russian easily stepped back to block her path. "Why not? If you're with me, you can have power. You don't want to be with such a weakling, do you?" He pointed at Italy, who looked away. Liechtenstein narrowed her eyes. Italy was far from a weakling.

"I don't want power. I want my independence." She informed him, beginning to become irritated more than fearful. She had never tolerated people who insulted her friends.

"You don't want power?" His childish voice reached a high tone, as if he was really surprised. And then his eyes darkened, and a strange purple aura seemed to surround him. "But why not?" At this, he abruptly reached out and wrenched Italy away from her.

"Liechtenstein!" Italy yelped, and now she could see the fear clearly written in his eyes. He struggled in Russia's grip, but she could see the Russian's hands tightening around his wrist. Soon, he'd be losing blood circulation.

"Let go of him!" She screamed, pushing away her own fear and tried to break Russia's grip. She saw Russia freeze in his tracks, and then out of nowhere, a bloodied water pipe appeared in his hand. There was a crazed look in his eyes that made her heart jump.

"Let me show you power. Then maybe you'll reconsider joining me." Russia laughed a creepy, haunted kind of laugh. He raised the pipe above his head and sneered at the trembling Italy.

Liechtenstein panicked. At once, she reached for the emergency gun that was strapped to her thigh, instructed by Vash to only use when she was in danger. Grasping the gun tightly in her shaking hands, she pointed it at Russia.

"Drop the pipe and let go of Italy." She tried to lower her voice so that she would sound threatening, like Vash, but her fear didn't help. Although her voice was shaky, she stood straight. "Drop the pipe. Let go of Italy."

A brief look of fear flashed in Russia's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. "You wouldn't shoot me, da. You're not strong enough." He taunted her, but there was doubt in his voice. "Become one with me and I'll let him go. There will be no violence."

"No!" She said as firmly as she could manage, and sent him a glare. "Let go of Italy, or I will be forced to shoot."

Italy struggled in Russia's grip, but it didn't ease. Liechtenstein really was considering putting a bullet through the Russian, but it seemed like she really didn't have the strength. She couldn't think of hurting anyone, not even Russia. But if he kept hurting Italy...

Her fingers tightened around the gun. _Just pull the trigger..._she told herself, but she couldn't do it.

"Aren't you going to shoot?" Russia mocked once more, and Liechtenstein's fingers tightened.

Suddenly, through the open doorway, a figure barged in, holding a wok. Surprised, Liechtenstein's fingers jerked against the trigger, and a single bullet fired.

The bullet missed Russia by a millimeter and whizzed through the open doorway.

"China!" Liechtenstein gasped as she recognized the man standing by the doorway. Russia also turned, and a strange grin appeared on his face.

"Your trusted China was the one that brought you to me, da. Did you know that, Liechtenstein? You-" Russia's sentence was left unfinished as China's wok slammed down on his head. Liechtenstein watched with relief as he fell unconscious, head drooping against the wall. Italy removed himself from Russia's grip, looking traumatized but gleeful.

Was Russia really unconscious? Was everything over?

Dropping the gun that she had been clutching so tightly, Liechtenstein threw herself at Italy, glad that he was okay. He 've'ed and happily grinned at her.

"Thank you China." She smiled up at her savior, unaware that he was looking a bit uncomfortable. He managed a weak smile but avoided her eyes.

"Let's get out of here." China finally said after Liechtenstein had finished strapping the gun back to its place. Carefully stepping over an unconscious Russia, she rushed out the doorway with Italy by her side, China leading in front, and burst through the front door into the early morning air.

Where she ran straight into her own beloved Switzerland.

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**Switzy! What are you doing here?  
Leave any comments about what you think is going to happen next. I haven't really planned this story all the way through, and I'm just writing as the ideas come, so many of your reviews help me plan what happens next. I want to hear your ideas. What do you think Switzerland's going to do?**


	11. Banned from the world

**Hey there guys! I'm back with the next chapter!  
So after reading the reviews, I realized that I've got a few things to clear up before continuing the story.  
First, I have decided that this fic will probably turn out ItaLiech or ChinaLiech or USLiech (Just because I, for some reason, love USLiech). Liechtenstein's relationship with the other countries that have been mentioned in this story will just be minor crushes or close friendship. It all depends on how you view the character's thoughts, because I won't be saying it straight out if it is just friendship or something more. That's all up to you.  
And second... actually, there is no second, so that's all.**

**Enjoy the 11th chapter!  
**

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**XI. Banned from the world**

Switzerland wasted no time.

He took out the rifle hanging by his side and raised it up with one arm, using the other to grasp Liechtenstein's hand and pull her over to his side. He sent China and Italy dark glares, until a whimper came from the frightened Italian.

"Did you hurt Liechtenstein?" He aimed the gun at first China, then Italy, and if looks could kill, the two of them would be dead by then.

"Big brother, they were saving me from Russia." Liechtenstein told Switzerland in a small voice, pulling her brother's arm back. Why had he come back so early, and how come he was standing before Ivan's house?

As if reading her thoughts, Switzerland eased his hold on the gun and turned to her. "Hungary saw China take you to Russia's home, and she called me." This time he turned to China. "Why did you take her here?" He demanded, his green eyes darkening.

A silence met Switzerland's accusation. Slowly, Liechtenstein saw Italy ease away from China and cast him a confused glance. She looked up at Yao, her eyebrows drawn together. So he really was the one that had taken her and handed her over to Russia?

"Why did you take me here? I want to know, too." She quietly said, confusion etched over her features. She'd trusted China, and he had brought her over to meet the enemy. Why?

China looked at her with regretful amber eyes. Switzerland brought the gun up again, pointing it at China, and Italy stood to the side, unsure of whether he should leave or not.

"I'm sorry Liechtenstein, and you too, Italy." China began, and Liechtenstein had to hold back Switzerland so that he didn't try to shoot China right then. Although she wondered whether China had been manipulating her all along, she wanted to hear his explanation.

"Russia told me that he had sensed some kind of power within you, Lilli, so he sent me to talk to you and gain your trust and then bring you to him. I owed him a lot, you see, so I had to do as he said. Please believe me, I didn't want to do it at all. And he'd promised not to hurt either of you, but then again..." China trailed off.

"Russia doesn't keep his promises, ve." Italy spoke up, his curl wavering. He was staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry Liechtenstein." China told her, and once more, she had to pull Switzerland away to keep him from pulling the trigger. She was upset with China, but she didn't want Vash to shoot to death. After glowering at China and even Italy, even though he had done nothing wrong, Switzerland grabbed her wrist and pulled her home. Italy also left after an upset German came to take him away, leaving tired and beaten up China standing on the path to Russia's house, wondering if the whole world was against him.

Back at the house, Liechtenstein had escaped from Switzerland and locked herself in her room. She changed out of her dirty, sweat-ridden dress into a cleaner one and sat on her bed by the window. Even though it was only around noon, she already felt beat and ready to sleep. She glanced out the window down to the garden below, trying to sort out everything that had happened.

So China had been manipulating her all along. He didn't think of her as a friend, and he had been none too pleased to offer her to Russia. She'd been wrong to trust him, and not only did he hurt her but he'd also hurt Italy. And she was stupid, stupid, stupid for placing her trust in him.

Suddenly, Liechtenstein felt empty, like there was a big pit in her stomach. Switzerland was home, and she was glad that he was okay, but she knew he'd have to leave again soon. He'd only returned to make sure she was safe. But this time, she didn't feel sad and empty because of Switzerland. It was something else that she couldn't quite place. It was the need for a friend, someone that would reassure her that she was of some worth. But given the circumstances, she didn't think that Switzerland would even let her out the door.

At that moment, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Sighing, she got up to open the door for her brother. Switzerland came in and sat down on her bed, and on closer look, she saw the dark circles under his eyes. Suddenly, she felt guilty.

"Big brother, you've been working too hard." She told Vash, coming to sit beside him.

"I know. But I have to. The neutral nations, including me, predict that the darkness is looming closer." He gave a sigh. "I know you think this is silly, but the darkness is real. It wants power. It's strong. And it's dangerous. I think that by now, many nations know of this, but for some reason they don't really believe that it's happening. And as for the ones that do- they want to fight by themselves. They want to defend their country and their country only. So we neutral nations have to work together."

Liechtenstein watched her big brother. He wasn't finished talking, she knew, but he seemed unwilling to say what he would say next.

"Lilli, I can only stay home with you for a few days. After that, I'll have to leave again. And I'll have to bring you along with me after we've finished building the surveillance building."

Liechtenstein nodded, not really listening to what he was saying. She could tell that there was more, and that she wouldn't like it at all.

"But for now, I want you to keep away from the other nations. You see now that many of them will try to manipulate you into doing what they want you to do. Into becoming one with them. You are a young nation, and many will take that to their advantage." Switzerland was watching for her reaction, she knew, yet she didn't say a word. If he had brought this up any other time, she would definitely have refused. She wouldn't want to stay away from anybody, and she would be confident that she could handle the world. But now that she'd felt the aftermath of being used...

Staying away from the others did sound like a good choice. For now. And if it made Switzerland happy...

"Alright. I'll stay away from the other nations. At least for a while." She said. Switzerland seemed a bit taken back that she had agreed so quickly, but then he looked pleased.

"It's just the best thing to do right now." He explained, and she nodded. When Switzerland left to make lunch, she sat alone in her room, staring at the white walls. She wondered if she'd ever see China again.

* * *

The next day, Switzerland returned from the world meeting to find Liechtenstein sewing in her room. He handed her three envelopes addressed to her. One was from Italy, the other from China, and the third one from America. She didn't open them, in fear that she wouldn't be able to stay away from them if she did.

* * *

The second day, Switzerland returned with his gun held tightly in his hands. He told her that Russia sent his apologies, and then stalked into his room. Liechtenstein thought that was a bit strange, but she didn't dwell on it much.

* * *

Three days had passed, and Liechtenstein was sitting at the window once more.

Switzerland would be leaving the next day, and she felt honored that he had trusted her to be safe. The moonlight shone through her window, and a slight breeze blew through the open space. She should have been sleeping by then, but a strange, unsettling feeling had kept her awake. She felt like she should be expecting something, or even someone.

Staring out her window, she heard a slight rustling from the tree that grew beside the house. Lilli watched as it started swaying to the side, and its branches brushed against the windowsill. Curious as to what was making the tree move so much even when there was no wind, she got up from her bed and walked out to the balcony.

Leaning against the side, she brushed the leaves out of the way and looked down onto the garden below. A head of blonde hair greeted her. Although she was too far away to clearly see the person's face, she heard his voice clearly.

"Hey Liechtenstein, I'm coming up there!"

* * *

**Who do you think the visitor is?**


	12. Rescuing a damsel in distress

**Wow! Those are some fast reviews! Thanks to everyone who's reading my fanfic and keeping up with me so far. I really enjoy reading the reviews because not only do they make me laugh but also give me plenty of ideas. I love you all! If I could, I'd be sending you virtual pasta or something like that.**

**Here's the next chapter. It has quite a bit of AmeriLiech, so enjoy!**

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**XII. Rescuing a damsel in distress  
Late October**

"Hey Liechtenstein, I'm coming up there!"

Lilli leaned over the side of the balcony to look at America, who was grinning up at her. She couldn't help smiling back, but then she remembered that Vash had told her to keep clear of the other nations. She wasn't particularly worried about America, but just to be sure... "What are you doing here, America?"

"Help me up first!" He called to her, and began climbing the tree. She watched as he made his way up, and finally climbed over the balcony to stand next to her, huffing and puffing.

She giggled quietly. "Are you okay?"

Alfred rolled his eyes at her. "Of course, since I'm the hero." At this, Liechtenstein laughed. "But the question is, are you okay Liechtenstein? I haven't seen you at the world meetings lately. Everyone's asking about you, but Switzerland wouldn't give us any info. I thought that you'd been kidnapped or something."

_Almost kidnapped..._ Liechtenstein thought, but she remained silent. She didn't know what to tell America. "I've been right here, America. And you've seen me. So now you can go." She said. She didn't want him to leave, but she also didn't want to disobey Switzerland.

"You want me to leave now?" There was a quick flash of hurt in Alfred's blue eyes.

Liechtenstein shook her head. "No. But you should, before Switzerland sees you."

"What can he do to the hero?" America let out a chuckle, before turning to study Liechtenstein. "Is Switzerland keeping you from hanging out with me or something?"

Liechtenstein shook her head again. "He wants me to stay away from the other nations for a while."

America gave her a searching look. "Did something happen?" He asked her, a slightly thoughtful look passing over his face.

"It's nothing. It's just my big brother being overprotective. Anyways, I just have to keep away for a while. And be more careful around others." She didn't want to tell him about what had happened with China and Russia and Italy. It was a surprise that Switzerland hadn't told everyone about it, though.

"Oh." America was completely oblivious to the fact that Liechtenstein wasn't telling the whole truth. "Well then, come with me." He grabbed her hand and began to climb over the balcony.

"Where are we going?" Liechtenstein stayed still, giving the American a confused look.

"Down there." He answered, and tugged at her hand until she gave in and began to climb down the tree with him. She was glad that she had decided to stay in her usual dress instead of changing into her pink silk pajamas.

America jumped down to the ground first and held out his hands to help her down. She landed by his side with a giggle. Sneaking out of the house away from Switzerland suddenly seemed like the silliest thing in the world.

"Where are we going?" She asked America once more as he took her hand and pulled her out onto the empty street.

"You'll see." He gave her a wink and they started down the street together. "Hey, I just thought of something. I'm the hero, coming to rescue the damsel in distress from the Swiss dragon." America declared, and Liechtenstein laughed. A funny thought struck her.

"Hey America, why do you like being the hero so much?" She asked.

America stared at her for a while, before answering her question. "The hero saves people. And everyone loves him." There was a slight pause. "And in the end, the hero always gets the girl."

Liechtenstein turned to the stare at the pavement. America was trying to get a girl? Who could that be? Taiwan? Viet Nam? Belarus? Belgium?

"It hasn't worked out so far." America mumbled quietly, and Liechtenstein continued looking at the ground, not knowing what to say to that. Who could be so cold-hearted that they wouldn't love the sweet, hyper America?

"Well, at least you've got me." She told America quietly. He turned to look at her with a dumbstruck expression and then suddenly burst out laughing. Liechtenstein scowled at the ground. What was so funny?

America stopped laughing enough to see Liechtenstein's sullen expression. "I'm sorry." He told her, trying hard to stifle another laugh.

Finally, Liechtenstein cracked a smile. She still didn't see what was so funny, but America's laugh was contagious. Giggling, they walked down the empty street, hand in hand.

America steered her away from the path and they trod on glass, finally arriving at the bottom of a grassy hill. Liechtenstein inhaled the sweet scent of fresh grass.

"Hey Liech, catch me if you can!" America suddenly yelled, and scrambled to race to the top of the hill. Laughing, Liechtenstein chased after him. Briefly, she remembered the first day that she had chased after Alfred when they were going to a fast food restaurant.

"I got you!" She yelled, breathing hard, as she leaned forward to grab onto Alfred's bomber jacket. She missed, and instead fell into a crumbled heap by his side. America chuckled behind her, and she got on her feet again to jump at him.

They fell back against the trunk of a tree, where Liechtestein pulled away from America and gathered her dress together. She suddenly felt bad for acting so indignified and immature. But America didn't seem to mind.

They sat together for a long time in silence, both watching the moon and the twinkling stars. Liechtenstein didn't remember much after that. She thought that she must have fallen asleep, because when she woke up at 3 in the morning, she was back in her room, comfortably tucked in bed. America was gone. Sitting up against her pillow, she wondered how she had gotten back to the house without Switzerland noticing. She concluded that America must have brought her back somehow. Smiling to herself, she changed into her pajamas and settled down to sleep once more. She could faintly smell the scent of sweet wild grass and Alfred in her dreams.


	13. Cupcakes and apologies

**I just cannot say this enough. I. Love. You. My. Reviewers!  
Here's the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy it!**

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**XIII. Cupcakes and apologies  
****Early November**

Switzerland had been gone for about a week, and Liechtenstein had made sure she stayed away from the other nations. She'd spent her days cooped up inside the large, empty house, cleaning and reading and sewing and staring out the window.

But now that a whole week had passed, she thought that she could probably resume her daily life again. But this time, she'd be more careful. She would try to stay from anyone who had any suspicious actions. She didn't want to be dragged into another kidnapping case and have her brother travel all the way back home to make sure she was alright. She was big now, and she was independent, and she could take care of herself.

Right?

Ok, so maybe not. But she'd just try to be more careful around others. No more naivety.

Liechtenstein decided that she would get out of the house and visit her friends after staying away for so long. She'd also bake them each a cake. With that thought in mind, she happily opened the refrigerator to see that it was... empty.

There was nothing in the fridge. Not even an egg. Not even Switzerland's cheap cheese. There was nothing. Sighing, she reached for her wallet and decided to go to the market.

Passing by the mailbox, Liechtenstein spotted the corner of a letter sticking out and stopped to get it. When she pulled that one out, another one fell to the ground. She examined the envelopes and saw that one was from France and the other from Switzerland.

She opened France's letter carefully and warily, unsure if she was ready to see the content on the inside. She'd run into France a couple of times before, and every time, she'd gotten away with just a little too much information than she needed. Slowly, she took out the elegant-looking black invitation card and read over its contents.

"To mon cher Liechtenstein,

I know that Christmas is more than a month away, but I just want you to know that I'm holding a Christmas party at my place on Christmas day. It starts at 6 in the evening and ends the next morning Of course, you're welcome to sleep over at my place and we can have a little fun, if you know what I mean. But if Switzerland comes after me... Anyways, I think it's best that you leave by midnight. You're a little too young to be having that much fun. You still can, if you'd like, just make sure your big brother doesn't hold a gun to my head if anything bad happens.

It's a formal Christmas party, so wear something fancy. Although I'm sure anything would look nice on you, mon amour ;)

Avec l'amour

France"

Liechtenstein reread the letter. So France was holding a Christmas party, but she didn't understand what he meant by having too much fun. Switzerland wouldn't kill him for making sure she had fun, right? That was strange.

Next, she opened her brother's letter.

"Dear Liechtenstein,

I received a phone call from France asking if you can come to his Christmas party. I assume that you must have received his invitation by now. You may go, but when he starts tempting you to 'have fun' with him, you must be sure to leave right away!

I've called Japan and asked him to supervise France at the party. If he starts getting too close, Kiku will be ready with his kantana. Frankly, Japan is one of the few people I trust, so I reckon you'll be safe with him.

Stay safe

Switzerland"

Again with the 'having fun'? What could that mean?

Confused but still pleased with Switzerland's acceptance to the party, Liechtenstein slipped the two letters under her door so she could retrieve them later and went on her way to the market. She'd have to look up 'having fun' some time later. Or maybe she could ask Iceland or even Italy...

Liechtenstein sifted through the displays in the supermarket and quickly picked out some food that should last her for about a week. Then she found all the ingredients for cake-making. She decided to make cupcakes and decorate each one specially for her friends. Humming a little to herself, she wandered down the aisles, picking out different icings and toppings and flavors.

When she tried to reach for the bag of flour on the top shelf, she found that it was too high up. Even standing on the tips of her toe, she still couldn't reach it. She was glancing around for something to stand on in frustration when a hand easily lifted the flour and handed it to her.

"Here you are, da."

Liechtenstein's heart stopped. She turned around slowly to find Russia standing behind her, holding the bad of flour. His childish smile was so different from the completely crazed one she had seen before. Hesitantly, she reached out to take the bag of flour from him, muttered a small thank you, and ran the other way toward the cash register.

She passed by Sealand on her way out of the store. He waved frantically at her and sent her a sunny smile before being dragged by England into the tea aisle. Smiling to herself and temporarily forgetting the fiasco with Russia, she started on the way home again.

Balancing four heavy bags of grocery, Liechtenstein carefully sidestepped little tracks of frost on the pavement. It was starting to get colder, and soon there would be snow. Lilli loved snow, and she knew Vash did too, although he always acted annoyed when she tracked snow inside the house. She wondered if it snowed wherever he was staying at the moment.

Liechtenstein was so busy staring at the ground and searching for frost that she didn't see the person standing right in front of her. There was a bump, and then they were both sprawled on the ground, Lilli's grocery bags scattered in all directions.

Liechtenstein quickly got on her feet. "I'm so sorry... Italy?" She hadn't expected to bump into Italy on the street by himself, without Ludwig by his side. Feliciano gave her a half hearted smile, and then picked up her bags and handed them back to her.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, and suddenly had a striking thought. "Hey, wanna come back to my house? I'm going to make cupcakes."

Italy immediately grinned in excitement. "Of course, ve!" Then he hesitated. "Wait, aren't you mad at me?"

Liechtenstein furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I be mad at you?" She passed a shopping bag to her other hand, all the while looking in confusion at Italy. She'd never be mad at Italy; that much was already impossible.

"I thought you didn't come to the meetings because you were mad at me and China and Russia. And you were mad at me because I didn't do anything to save you from Ivan." This time Italy sent her a confused look.

"Feli, I'll ever be mad at you. And that business at Russia's house... well, you did try to protect me, and that's enough, isn't it?" She smiled and turned toward the path leading to her house.

Italy 've'ed and walked beside her. "Oh, I just remembered something..." He held out his hands and took two grocery bags from her. "Germany taught me to be polite, ve, see?" He gave her a bright smile. "This way, I won't be useless anymore."

Liechtenstein half smiled at him, but then she frowned instead. "You're not useless." She told him, and he thanked her as they continued their walk toward Switzerland's house.

As they neared the large house, Liechtenstein noticed Italy struggling with the heavy bags of ingredients. Without a word, she reached over and took one from him, so that he only had to carry one. Italy sent her a grateful look, and they chatted the rest of the way home. Lilli noticed his protruding curl had bended itself into the shape of an uneven heart.

"We're here." She announced, and set down her bags to unlock the front door. The two letters she had slipped beneath it were still there, and so she took them into the kitchen along with the bags of food and ingredients. With Feli by her side, she proceeded to putting away the food in the fridge and set out all the utensils needed to make cupcakes.

Liechtenstein started mixing the flour and the eggs, while Italy created various different colors of icing. She was just starting to pour the mixture into the paper cups when there was a poke at her side.

"You do it like this, ve!" When she turned around, Italy blew a puff of flour in her face.

Giggling, Liechtenstein grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at Italy. He coughed and spluttered, and then took the whole bag and flour and dumped half of its contents on her blond head. Liechtenstein sneezed under the white flakes that coated her hair and her cheeks.

She shook the flour out from her hair, and when she looked up, there was Italy, decked out in a chef hat and white apron. There was flour dusting his auburn hair. She giggled, and then sneezed once more. Italy looked like the younger, more childish and cheery version of a professional chef.

Passing by a full length mirror on her way to put the cup cakes in the oven, she saw a glimpse of herself. There was still a small pyramid of flour resting on the top of her head, and some flour was coated on her cheeks. She was about to wipe it away when a hand reached out from behind with a napkin and dusted the flour off her cheeks.

"Thanks Feli." She said, but then the Italian blew at the flour on her head, scattering it all over her face once more. There came another sneeze, and they both burst into laughter.

While they waited for the cupcakes, of course Liechtenstein wasn't surprised when Italy announced that he was going to make pasta. She hopped up from her seat to help him prepare the sauce, and then they ate the pasta right out of the pot. All that was done in the space of 20 minutes, and when the last piece of pasta was eaten, Lilli heard the ding from the oven. She took out the cupcakes and set them out to cool.

And then Italy and Liechtenstein proceeded to icing all the cupcakes and decorating them with each nation's national flag. With a little icing left of each color, Lilli mixed them in a large bowl until they turned a tannish color. Then she took that icing and stuck it in the fridge.

Italy handed her a basket. "Put the cupcakes in here, and we can deliver them to each person." Liechtenstein nodded, and they set the cupcakes neatly inside the woven basket, with Italy humming a little tune as they worked.

Finally, they set out once again to deliver the cupcakes.

They stopped at Germany's house first, because Italy'd insisted that they make a cupcake for him. Ludwig opened the door and accepted his cupcake, blushing slightly, and Liechtenstein and Italy each gave him their own little farewell before walking away. They arrived at Japan's house next, where Kiku took his cupcake with a small smile on his lips. And then Liechtenstein gave China his cupcake.

His reaction was almost the same as Italy's earlier that day. "You're not mad at me, aru?"

Liechtenstein shook her head. "You've made a mistake, but you do regret it. So I'm not mad at you." She stepped forward from Italy and unexpectedly gave China a hug. "We can start over, ja?"

China nodded, smiling contentedly. "Sure."

And so Liechtenstein and Italy delivered the cupcakes one by one until it was only Liechtenstein standing on Italy's front step along with Romano.

"You want to give this to me?" Romano scowled at the cupcake, but looked at Liechtenstein with a gaze full of confusion. "Why? It's not like I did anything to help you or something like that."

She laughed. "It's because you're my friend, silly." She watched the startled Romano for a while before turning to Italy. "It's getting late, Italy. I have to go back home."

"Oh, ok. I'll see you tomorrow, ve."

Suddenly, Liechtenstein realized something. "I forgot to make a cupcake for you, Feli."

"It's alright. We had the pasta, and that's enough." He grinned sheepishly at her, but she stared at the ground instead. How could she have forgotten the cupcake for one of her best friends?

"I have to give you something else, then..." She searched in the basket desperately. There must be something she could give to Feli.

"You don't have to. Spending the day with you is good enough, ve!" With that, Italy hugged her quickly and then pulled back, waving. "See you tomorrow!"

Liechtenstein started the walk home, feeling her spirits being lifted up so much more since that morning. Italy could do miracles to her.

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**Next chapter's gonna be starring... *drumroll, please!* ...Japan! **


	14. Japan's visit

**Here's the next chapter for you! SPOILER: The Darkness (that is what I will call it, as there really is no other name) makes a brief appearance in this chapter.**

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**XIV. Japan's visit  
****Early December**

Quite a while had passed since the day Liechtenstein and Italy decided to treat everyone to homemade cupcakes.

Since then, Liechtenstein had been busy juggling cooking lessons with Italy, sewing at home, writing to Switzerland, and cleaning the house. She'd also had multiple run-ins with Russia, who always scared her breathless each time, even when he was trying to help her do something. She'd met with Iceland and Sealand a few times, but then found out that Iceland was recruited to the same place that Switzerland was at, and Sealand was kept grounded at home by England because he was annoying the larger nations. And she'd had picnics with Italy, wrote back and forth to Japan about the Christmas party situation, visited China's house ( and also a large amount of Chinatowns), and did many fun but pointless things with America.

That morning, she was writing a letter to Switzerland and asking him to send her regards to Prussia, when the doorbell rang.

Liechtenstein opened the door to see huffing Japan and Italy on her front step.

"Hey Liech, ve! Germany told us to run laps, and it was really boring and my legs were hurting, but then we passed by your house and wanted to see how you were doing." Italy explained breathlessly.

Japan looked to the ground. "Well, actually..."

Suddenly, Liechtenstein heard the trademark curses of an angry German. Italy and Japan must have heard the yells too, because their faces instantly paled. Italy frantically tugged on her hand. "Liechtenstein, please let us in, just for a little while. I don't want Germany to find me." Nodding in amusement, she stood back to let her guests in.

After they'd sat down on Switzerland's cheap but expensive-looking sofa, Liechtenstein went into the kitchen to make tea. She poured a cup for Japan, but Italy refused to drink tea, and so she gave Italy some microwaved pasta, which he accepted happily.

"Liechtenstein... Are you doing okay? I know Switzerland's been gone for a while now." Japan said quietly. Neither mentioned the day that Japan had taken in Liechtenstein after seeing her out in the storm, but both remembered it clearly. Lilli was still immensely grateful.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. Very good, actually." She smiled seeing Italy devour his pasta in seconds, and then gave Japan a smile of her own. She was glad that he cared.

"That's great." He paused, seeming to search for something to say. "Well, France's party is coming up soon, and I just want you to know that I will be there if France tries to do anything, like Switzerland said. If you have any concerns, you can tell me."

"Actually, I don't have any. I think it'll turn out fine." Japan nodded his head politely at her answer, and sipped his tea.

"I was wondering... would you like to spend the New Year in Japan? When I wrote to Switzerland, he mentioned that you like to travel to new countries and get to know their culture. And he's given you permission to go to Japan, which he'll probably inform you of in his next letter."

Liechtenstein looked at Japan first in surprise, as she hadn't clearly grasped the concept of the whole thing yet, and then in excitement. Spending her New Year in Japan would be great! It was even better that Switzerland had given her permission and that he trusted Japan enough to let her go there. And getting to spend time with Japan would be fun! She'd always loved spending the holidays with her friends.

"I'd love to go. How long is it?"

"Well, the Japanese New Year is on January 1st, but the preparation and the festivals start about right after Christmas. So you can come a few days after the party and stay for as long as you'd like. On New Year's eve, Italy and Germany will come too, so we'll have company."

"That sounds great!" She said. "I heard that there are many festivals in Japan to prepare for the New Year. That seems really interesting. And big brother told me once that the scenery there is quite beautiful, too."

Japan laughed slightly. "So you'll come?"

She nodded. "Of course!"

Suddenly, a funny thought came into her mind. "Hey Japan, do you know what 'having fun' means? France and Switzerland both mentioned it in their earlier letters, and France even said that I'm not old enough to have so much fun."

Japan gaped at her, his dark eyes holding a questioning look. Italy had finished his pasta long ago and had stolen another bowl, but Liechtenstein didn't mind. Instead, she ran up to her bedroom and then came down with the two letters. She showed them to Japan.

Japan read them over quickly, his blush growing as he scanned letter to letter. He was blushing immensely and stuttering strange words when there was a loud knock on the door.

Liechtenstein got up and opened the door widely. That was a foolish act.

Germany loomed in her doorway. "Entschuldigen sie (Excuse me), Liechtenstein, but have you seen Japan and an Italian dummkopf anywhere around here? They were supposed to be training, but..." Liechtenstein gave a nervous laugh, and suddenly Germany pushed her aside and barged in the doorway.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing here? You were supposed to be running laps, and-" Germany didn't finish his sentence as Japan and Italy both dodged past him and pushed Lilli aside, running for their lives down the path. Liechtenstein laughed nervously as she watched the three Axis members chase each other, Italy still clutching his bowl of pasta.

"I'm sorry, Liechtenstein, veeee!" Italy yelled as they ran out her gate.

"Sayonara, Liechtenstein."

"Come back here, you dummkopfs!"

Liechtenstein had just finished cleaning the living room and washing the tea cups when there was a knock on her door again. This time, she found China standing in front of her, looking slightly flustered.

"Oh, ni hao Liechtenstein, aru. I have to go find South Korea, so I'll make this quick. Would you like to come spend Christmas Eve with me? It- It's okay if you don't want to. I mean-"

"That'd be great China. I'll be there." She assured him, after thinking it over carefully, and then watched as he grinned happily.

"Thank you, Liechtenstein. I have to go now, aru. Bye!" And with that, he ran from her house, leaving a dizzy but happy Liechtenstein standing in the doorway. This year's Christmas and New Year would be fun! But of course, she was going to be very busy. Closing the door behind her, she made her way back into her bedroom to finish the letter to Switzerland.

"...And guess what, big bruder? Today Italy and Japan came to our house and Kiku invited me to spend the New Year with him in Japan. But I guess you already know that, right? And China also asked if I wanted to spend Christmas Eve with him, and I said yes. I know you think he's not a good nation to be friends with, but he's changed from when you last met him (and held a gun to his head). I think I'll be alright..."

When Liechtenstein went out to mail the letter, she passed Russia, who gave her a small smile before going on his way. Shuddering slightly, she made her way back home and managed to avoid Russia the rest of the day. While making dinner, she saw a strange sight. The whole sky suddenly turned dark and then turned back to its evening blue as quickly as the darkness had come. The whole thing left a strange, cold feeling inside her. Liechtenstein felt like she wasn't herself, and in that brief moment that everything had gone dark, she'd felt like she wanted to be a part of the darkness. But why? Nothing was wrong in her life, except for...

Except for the darkness. That must be what it was. Slowly and cautiously, Liechtenstein finished making the rest of her meal, feeling a cold chill creep up her spine. After finishing the food in a flash, she grabbed her things and hurried over to Hungary's house. She hoped Elizaveta wouldn't mind her staying over, because she just couldn't be alone with that creepy feeling of dread on her mind.

_I hope Switzerland and the others finish building the surveillance building soon. I want to move there with my bruder._

But as soon as that thought had come, Liechtenstein felt something strange. She felt a bit of hesitance. Although she wanted to reunite with her brother, she also felt reluctant to leave her friends behind, should the time come when she really did need to go away. That was a strange feeling, indeed. Before, she wouldn't hesitate for a second if Switzerland asked her to come along with him, but now... She felt like she wanted to stay back with her friends. But that was foolish, wasn't it? To put friends before family?

She thought about that for a second. No, it wasn't foolish at all.

And as she ran to Hungary's place, holding the thought of Switzerland and her friends in her mind, the cold chill slowly went away.

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**Next chapter is Liechtenstein's preparation for the party and such, and after that is her Christmas Eve at China's. Stay tuned! (I sound like a sucky movie commercial... xD)**


	15. Preparations

**Hey there! Once again, I love you all, readers and reviewers. I love you for making it this far and I love you for always complimenting my fic and prompting me to write more. Cheers!  
This chapter's somewhat a filler, but it's also important since it marks the beginning of the changes in Liechtenstein's feelings. The ending might feel a bit rushed, since it's late and I'm sleepy but I just needed to put up this chapter. If it sounds really bad, I'll rewrite it again tomorrow. **

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**XV. Preparations**

There was only two days left until she'd be leaving to China, and Liechtenstein was frantic. She'd spent a whole week with Hungary, hesitant to return to her house all by herself. That was probably the most foolish thing she'd ever done. Now there were only two days left, and she had so much work to do. She had to put up the Christmas decorations (luckily Hungary had given her a tree), find a new dress for the party (She had originally planned to wear an old one, or sew her own, but surprisingly Switzerland had urged her to go out and enjoy herself. She had been doubtful of that; her brother was probably drunk when he wrote that in his letter), pack her things to leave for China, and then see what she should pack later to go to Japan. And then she'd have to make sure the house was all clean, and there was someone to take care of Switzerland's garden, and receive the paperwork from China and Japan's bosses.

So instead of sleeping when she arrived back at her house sometime around nine, she decided to stay up and try to find all the Christmas decorations. She was too scared to go to sleep, anyway. One might think that looking for all the Christmas things was an easy task, but for little Liechtenstein, it was far from easy. And she probably had to spend time fixing some ornaments, because Switzerland always refused to go out and buy new ones, even if the old ones were broken or faded in color. With the huge task at hand, Liechtenstein climbed up the attic and started sorting out all the decorations.

She sneezed a few times. The crowded attic was very dusty. And everything was so disorganized. She had to open all the boxes and search every hidden corner to find a decent amount of decorations. By the time she lugged the big cardboard box back downstairs, both her knees were scraped and bruised, her face was shiny with sweat, and dust clung to her clothes. She set the box on the floor and began sorting through its contents.

The last piece of ornament left in the box was a little blonde angel. Liechtenstein picked her up carefully, studying her face. She suddenly remembered last Christmas, when Switzerland had brought the angel home. She had asked him why he bought her, because he rarely bought new things. And then he had told her that the angel reminded him of her, and after that came a furious blush. Liechtenstein smiled at the memory.

She got out her sewing kit and fixed the ripped patches of the angel's costume, and then fixed the rest of the ornaments, either by gluing the pieces together or sewing something back. She decorated the pine tree, and then set the little angel on top. She wouldn't be home for Christmas and neither would her brother, but the angel would be there, and she would be in Liechtenstein's memories.

After the decorations, she climbed up to the attic once more to get Switzerland's traveling backpack, which he had given her permission to use. She packed her clothes, her money, and other essentials, and left the backpack near the front door.

It was 4:15 when she finished packing, so she went into Switzerland's study to fill out all the necessary paperwork. After two pages of information, her eyelids started to feel strangely heavy. The black letters blurred in front of her. She decided to go wash her face and get a cup of water, but she just couldn't make herself stand up to do it. And so Liechtenstein fell asleep at her brother's work table, head resting on the fat pile of paperwork.

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"Liechtenstein!"

She awoke with a jolt, quickly blinking her eyes to adjust to the too-bright light.

"Liechtenstein!" After the call came a few knocks at the door. Liechtenstein pushed back the chair, rushing down the stairs to the door. She dusted off her dress and tried to appear as presentable as she could after falling asleep while trying to finish all the paperwork. And then she yanked the door open.

"Liechtenstein, ve!" Italy smiled at her from outside the door, and then frowned childishly. "You look..."

She winced. "I'm sorry. Come in. I was just waking up when you knocked."

Feliciano walked into the house, surveying the decorations, and then turned to Liechtenstein. "You were just waking up? It's half past eleven, Liechtenstein!"

Lilli's eyes widened in surprise. "Mein gott. I must have lost track of the time." She mumbled, blushing. She didn't realize that it was so late. "Excuse me for a second." Leaving Italy in her living room, she dashed into her bedroom to change into more presentable clothes and fix her hair. She tied her violet ribbon back in and grabbed her little purse.

"Italy?" Liechtenstein called as she stepped into the kitchen. The smell of pasta that was wafting out was delicious.

"Liechtenstein, ve! I'm guessing that you didn't have any breakfast yet, so I made some pasta for you!" Italy popped out from behind the door of the fridge, smiling cheerfully, his eyes tightly closed as always.

"I- Thank you." She watched as Italy set a tall cup of milk next to the plate of hot pasta and sat her down in front of it. He plopped in the chair next to her and dug a fork into the plate of pasta.

"Open up, ve!" He told her, and she happily obeyed, letting Italy shove fork after fork of pasta into her mouth. She was used to it by now. After the pasta had been demolished, she drank the milk, and then wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Italy, I have to go find something to wear for France's party now. Maybe I'll see you later?"

Italy's eyebrows knit together, but then he relaxed into a smile. "Can I come with you?"

"You want to come with me? I mean, sure!" She smiled. She loved spending time with Italy, no matter where and when. It would be great to have him along. With that, she led Italy outside of the house and then down the path.

The chilly winter wind seemed to cut her skin as she walked. It stung her hands and made her eyes water. She shivered slightly.

Italy seemed to notice her little shiver, because he took her hand in his. Liechtenstein relaxed for a brief second. His hand was warm, and it made her feel less cold. But then she suddenly felt self-conscious. Wasn't it weird for friends to be holding each other's hands? Switzerland's hands were the only ones she had ever really held, and so she didn't know if it was right or not. Instinctively, she pulled away.

Italy turned to her, and his expression was one of hurt. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that, ve." He put his hands into the pockets of his training uniform.

Suddenly, Liechtenstein felt strange. "No, it's okay." She told Feli, and pulled his hand out of the pocket, slipping hers in instead. It did feel strange, but it was a good kind of strange. Although Liechtenstein wasn't sure whether she should be noticing the fact that Italy's hand seemed to fit around hers like two fitting puzzle pieces.

"Hey Liechtenstein, I know a place we can go to. Brother France owns a boutique, and we can go there! I'm sure he has plenty of dresses for you to choose from."

"Really?" She cocked her head a bit to the side. She was a bit skeptical of the idea at first, but then it made sense. It was France, after all.

"Yeah! I'll show you the way, ve." With that, Italy pulled her down a different path until they arrived, breathless, at a French boutique.

"Welcome, mon cherie. Oh, little brother! And the lovely Liechtenstein, too!" France got up from his spot behind the counter. "What can I do for you today?"

"Liechtenstein's looking for a dress to wear to your party, big brother, ve!" Italy told him, as Liechtenstein showed no signs of talking. She was clutching Feli's hand tightly, wondering if this was really a good idea and watching the intimidating France with an anxious expression.

"Oh, you've come to the right place, then. Let me show you a few dresses you can try on." At this, France gave Liechtenstein a little wink, which confirmed her of her suspicions.

"I think... I'll just look around first, thank you." She told France quietly, dipping her head. Luckily, Belgium came in that moment and France seemed to be interested in her. He nodded vaguely at Liechtenstein and pranced away.

After trying on a few dresses, Liechtenstein found an emerald dress that looked really nice. She decided to try on that one, and saw that it actually fit her petite figure nicely. After calculating the price and the discount and such, just like Switzerland had taught her, she decided to go ahead and buy that.

By the end of the afternoon, Liechtenstein had her outfit for the party all ready. All that was left was to clean up the house and find someone to take care of Switzy's garden. And she still had a whole day to finish those two tasks. Relieved, she returned to the house with Italy with a spring in her step.

She was about to wish Italy good night and close the door when he tugged on her hand.

"You are coming to Japan for Japanese New Year, right?" He asked hopefully. She nodded.

"Of course. And you'll be there too. It's going to be a lot of fun!"

"That's great, ve! I just wanted to make sure that you were coming. It wouldn't be fun without you!" He cheerfully droned on for about a minute, and then finally wrapped her in a giant hug. "See you later!"

Liechtenstein watched as Italy bounded down the path and eventually disappeared against the shadows of the late evening. For some reason, she felt different that day with Italy. She couldn't quite place that feeling. She just felt like she wanted to pull the Italian back and never let him go. But that wouldn't be right.

And anyway, they were just close friends, ja?

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**Next chapter is gonna be a big one for Liech and China! Read on!**


	16. Christmas Eve

**This author's note is dedicated to replying to some of my reviewers, so here goes! If you don't want to read all my thanks yous and rants and stuff, just skip to the story below ^^**

**To Essence of Gold: Oh! I nearly forgot about "The Eastward Road", until you mentioned it. When I first read it, I didn't have an account yet (I've only had this account for a bit more than a month) and I also didn't pay attention to all the reviewing. So when I made this account, I kinda forgot to go back and review. Just a few days ago, while writing a ChinaLiech scene, I remembered your fic and decided to reread it to get in the mood for writing. I reminded myself to review after writing the chapter, but then I forgot! So now I've reread it for the third time (I just love it that much) and also left a review. I've gone back to your comment and thank you so much for pointing out my careless mistakes! I'll proof-read the chapters more carefully, and go back to fix some of the errors. About CanadaLiech: I'm not sure what this is going to turn out to be, and to be honest, at first I just put Canada there as a brief mention. But now that you've pointed out Canada, I realize that I've been neglecting the poor nation. Because of that, Canada's going to have a big part in the later chapters (The ones where the Darkness comes in).**

**To Flying mint bunny girl: I live in Asia, so the time difference is really big (Assuming that you live somewhere in the Western hemisphere). I usually post my story at night or at noon (where I live), so by the time I wake up the next morning, you guys would have already gotten the new chapter (Again, assuming that you live somewhere in the WH and you read fanfics at night xD). That's why I may be getting the fics up at random times of the day.**

**To Ayumi Kudou: You are such a loyal reviewer! I just remembered that I owe you a one shot, but that may have to wait a while. I'm just so caught up in DandL right now that I feel like my ideas have run dry everytime I finish a chapter or two. But never fear, the one shot will be here! (Gives virtual pasta)**

**Pimp with a chainsaw: Let me just say that your comments make my day! They're really funny, and you never fail to make me smile (and sometimes laugh so loudly that my mom comes in wondering if I've gone crazy).**

**Eve of Moonstone: Your comments are the ones that inspire me to write the most. They give me amazing ideas for my next chapters. (Sends virtual pasta)**

**Random person: Thank you for getting my story out there to Essence of Gold! I'm glad you're liking this so much and you've also been a very loyal reviewer! Thank you so so much!**

**And now for the story...**

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**XVI. Christmas Eve**

Liechtenstein had just arrived at China's place the previous evening. He'd showed her to her room and then when she had put away all her things, he'd brought her to a Chinese restaurant. After eating, he'd showed her the streets of China until they returned to the house at midnight, exhausted but exhilarated.

"China, where are we going today?" Liechtenstein asked as they were having breakfast the next morning. She dug her fork into the dumpling.

"We can go to the Chinese marketplace, if you'd like. There are some really interesting things there, aru." China paused. "Actually, we can visit a temple, and still have time to go to the marketplace afterwards."

"Sounds great!" She exclaimed, before placing the forkful of dumpling into her mouth.

"Here, put this on." China pushed something toward her. Liechtenstein gulped down the dumpling and picked up the green necklace. A little piece of ancient faded yellow paper dangled from one end.

"What's this?" She asked.

China shifted, eyes darting down to the table, and Liechtenstein thought she saw his cheeks begin to color. Then his eyes seemed to be locked on a painting hanging on the wall instead of her. "I got this for you yesterday. I saw you looking at the necklace display and so I bought this one for you when you weren't paying attention." He finally turned to face her. "I thought green complimented your eyes."

Liechtenstein blushed. "I- Thank you! You shouldn't have, though." She fumbled with the clasp, but China was there to help her put it on.

"The little slip on paper hanging on the end is meant for luck, aru." He continued.

"I... Really, thank you very much. That means a lot to me." She tugged on the little piece of jewelry until it fitted nicely in the nape of her neck.

"You look really pretty, aru." He told her, and once more, Liechtenstein turned the shade of a ripe tomato.

After breakfast, they piled into China's old-fashioned car and drove to a nearby temple. Liechtenstein studied the scenery with great interest. Brightly colored green trees seemed to dart by as the car rolled along down the highway. The occasional leaves fluttered with the wind and pasted themselves on the window for a few seconds before floating away. Sparrows, robins and goldfinches whistled happily. The sunlight shone through the window, marking the beginning of a fun day, but for some reason Liechtenstein felt uneasy. Something dark seemed to be lurking closer and closer with every minute passing by.

"China, could you tell me about the history of the Chinese dynasties?" She asked hesitantly. China nodded, and started telling her about the nasty fights and arguments that happened so long ago. She noticed that his eyes seemed to darken as he went over how the dynasties had fought over land, people, and mostly power. That period of time must have been a particular struggle for China. Liechtenstein didn't really pay close to attention to China's story; she just enjoyed hearing his youthful, accented voice, and it chased away the worries in her mind.

"Hey Liechtenstein, we're here, aru!" China announced as they rolled into the parking lot. Liechtenstein ducked out of the car, and then stood up straight to study the temple. It was definitely something she had never seen before, most likely because she'd never been anywhere other than Liechtenstein or Switzerland. The red brick walls of the temple seemed to be designed as the outer coat of the core of the temple. She could see little flashes of light coming from behind the slightly ajar doors. And between the different parts of the temple were winding pathways leading out and beyond.

"It's really beautiful." She breathed, taking in the sight of the whole temple. "There isn't anything like this in my country, or big brother's."

China just laughed. "Wait until you see the grander and more ancient temples, aru." And then he led her to one of the pathways that seemed to stretch to a place behind the temple buildings.

They walked down the path, which was concealed between rows of flower bushes so that it was actually hard to see past them. Following China's lead, she carefully avoided the little prickles that stuck out from the bushes.

"Ow!" She yelped suddenly, holding up her arm to the light to see it better. A small piece of thorn had dug itself right in the middle of her right hand.

"What's wrong?" China asked, worry clearly written in his eyes. He noticed the little piece of thorn stuck in her hand. "Here, hold it up and I'll pull it out."

Liechtenstein obliged, holding up her had to China. The thorn didn't exactly hurt. It just felt like a mild sting in her hand.

"Oh!" Liechtenstein gasped as China took hold of the thorn in his fingers and pulled it out. In its place was an inky black mark on her hand, and it was growing fast. And this time, there wasn't just a little sting. The sharp, searing pain spread across her hand, and she had to bite her lip to keep from tearing up. The black mark was quickly widening, turning into the shape of an ink-colored lily.

"China, wh-what's happening?" She frantically grabbed onto China's sleeve, her green eyes wide and filled with fear. A sudden surge of hot, blazing pain had her clenching her jaw to keep from screaming. China grabbed her hand, desperate to help, but she knew that he was helpless. What could he do?

"_Liechtenstein, I have my eyes on you._"

Liechtenstein spun around, her dress whirling out around her, to find the source of the low, husky voice. It seemed to be coming from every direction. She clutched China's hand, and he squeezed hers to reassure her that he was there, and he was with her, although he couldn't do anything.

"_I know you are aware that I exist. And you are naive, and young, but level-headed. For that reason you are strong. And so I have come to test your strength. Are you brave enough to go against me?_"

"I- What?" Liechtenstein was now fully aware of the fact that the black mark on her hand was disintegrating, only to give way to a huge black shadow that was growing bigger every second and wrapping itself around her. She shrank back in fear, heart beating fast, and pressed herself against China. Would it be selfish to say "Save me"? A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face as the speed of her heart quickened even more.

"_Come. Come with me, and I'll show you._" The whisper was low and threatening, and there was something alluring about that voice. As if in a trance, Liechtenstein let go of China's hand and started to walk forward, but he held her back.

"_If you won't come on your own will, I'll get you, my lovely Liechtenstein._" With that final declaration, the shadow swept around her, wrenching her away from China, and covering the great temple scenery with an empty, silent blackness.

Liechtenstein squeezed her eyes shut. When she finally dared to open them, she saw nothing. At first, a wild fear came over her. She thought that maybe she'd gone blind. But then slowly, Liechtenstein realized that she saw nothing because there was nothing to see. There was only a black void where everything else should be. The temple, the beautiful day, China, they were all gone. And in their place was a big, empty black space.

She pressed a hand to where her heart was beating so wildly against her ribcage.

"_Liechtenstein._" The sudden voice made her jump and made her legs turn into jelly. She braced herself for anything that would come, trying to keep herself from shaking in fear. She wouldn't show this... this thing that she was afraid. She had to at least try to be brave.

"_Liechtenstein... I will show you... Show you what it is going to be like._" The voice seemed to echo within the black void, and the echoes started enveloping one another, getting so loud that Lilli had to hold her hands to her head. _Stop! Stop it! Stop this!_

Had she gone insane?

No, she thought as a small light started to appear. Maybe not. She followed the light shakily, her legs shivering as if they couldn't hold her weight for any longer. The more she walked, the brighter the light was, until it felt like she was walking into sunlight and she had to squint her eyes.

When the light finally dimmed to an agreeable temperature and her heart stopped beating like a festival drum, she opened her eyes hesitantly. And there in front of her was a battle field.

Bodies lay on the ground, crumpled and bloodied. She pressed a hand to her mouth in horror. Were these supposed to be her friends? The other nations? What had done such a terrible thing to them?

"_Go on. This is just an illusion. It wouldn't hurt to look._"

Liechtenstein stepped forward, taking small, slow steps, wounding in-between the bodies. Her eyes grew wider with every new step she took. There was Hungary, pan-less and clutching onto Austria. Hungary's forest green eyes were still open, staring up straight, and her lips were set into a grim, haunted smile. Austria had a long, fresh scar running from the edge of his eye down to his jaw line, and the blood was still wet, still trickling down his neck.

And Liechtenstein saw England, blond hair crusted with blood. His eyes were closed, but –were his fingers still moving? Still reaching out? - he seemed to still be there. She knew he wanted to say something, and had started to walk toward him when she caught the settling of his chest and the sudden stillness of his hands. He was gone.

And near a fallen oak tree, there was Seychelles, nestled deeply in Canada's open arms. If she hadn't seen the trail of blood leading up toward the tree, she would have sworn that they were just sleeping. A thought struck at her: Hadn't Switzerland mentioned that Seychelles and Canada were part of the Darkness resistance team? And weren't they supposed to be staying at the very same place Switzerland had gone to?

And if Canada and Seychelles were there...

Liechtenstein suddenly felt much more alert. She bolted from the spot that she was standing in, rushing through the field to find her big brother. The grass scratched at her ankles and the still bodies seemed to lock eyes with her, but she didn't care. She had to find Switzerland.

"Bruder!" She screamed, halting before the body of the Swiss man. Switzerland's blond hair was caked with dirt, and his face was blood-streaked. One arm he had rested on his rifle, and the other one lay bent at an odd angle. Liechtenstein sank to her knees before him.

"Big bruder! No, big bruder!" She muttered over and over again. He couldn't be... gone. He couldn't. And yet the blood continued to flow freely from an open artery in his neck, staining the grass around him with a sickening rust-red.

Liechtenstein reached out a hand tentatively. She wanted... She wanted to just touch her brother, to feel his warmth, and to find a sign that would convince her that he was still breathing. She reached for his wrist. Maybe she could find the blood flow.

But when her hand touched his, it passed right through. Like he wasn't even there. She withdrew her hand slowly in confusion. What had happened to Switzerland? Maybe... maybe she really had gone crazy.

And then suddenly she saw that familiar shock of golden blonde hair. The bomber jacket that she knew so well.

America...

Jolted from her temporary shock, she leaped to her feet and ran over to America, collapsing by his side. She tried to brush the dirty mass of hair away from his face, but just like with Switzerland, her fingers passed right through. America's broken glasses lay isolated on the ground.

Insanity. This was insanity.

When she stood up and turned around, her eye immediately caught on China's body. And just like with America and Switzerland, her hand passed through when she tried to take his.

Italy!

Liechtenstein instantly spotted the all too familiar curl of hair when she looked up. She rushed to his side, dropping down on her knees before him. He was leaning back against a bare tree. The sight of him, up close, took her breath away. Feliciano had bruises all over his body, and open wounds and deep scratches everywhere she looked. An angry red line ran over one cheek. His eyes were closed, just like usual, but the expression on his face was one of great fear. His lips were parted, as if calling for someone.

"Italy..." She murmured, heart hammering in her chest. "Italy... Italy! Please, wake up!" For a moment she forgot that he was just an illusion, just an image, and attempted to hug him, to pull him close, anything. And just as with the others, her arms went right through the fabric of his uniform and she ended up throwing her arms around the tree.

"No... I-I-This isn't real. It isn't happening." Liechtenstein paused for a moment, glancing around wildly. This couldn't be what was expected to happen, could it? "This... I..." She got on her feet, turning around furiously to look at the bodies of her friends.

"This can't happen! No!" Her soft, doubtful voice was slowly melding into one of hysteria. "It can't! My brother, China, America, Italy, Hungary, Austria, England, everybody! They can't be..." A sob cut her off. "They can't be dead." Bubbling hysteria turned into quiet desperation as Liechtenstein dropped to the ground once more, burying her face in her hands, green eyes squeezed shut to avoid the tears from spilling over. They did, anyway.

"_Do not cry, lovely Liechtenstein. Like I said before, this is only an illusion. But I can assure you that I am real, and I will see you again sometime soon. Very soon, indeed. Liechtenstein..._"

"_Liechtenstein!_"

"Liechtenstein!"

Lilli slowly opened her eyes to see China leaning over her. She bolted upright. She was back in China's living room once more, sitting on his couch, and he was staring at her with a worried expression. Just to make sure, she put a shaking hand on his shoulder. When she was able to feel his shirt grazing her fingers, she jumped off the sofa and threw her arms around him.

"L-Liechtenstein, aru." China said quietly, freezing at her hug, and then slowly relaxing. When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes.

"Wh-What happened? When I saw you faint, I took you back home, aru, and now you're just beginning to wake up." He turned to the clock, which indicated that it was a little over seven o'clock. "Are you feeling alright? You're not ill or anything, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

Liechtenstein gave him a weak smile. So he hadn't witnessed what had happened. It was all in her mind. She really was going crazy. And for some reason, she had never felt so relieved. If it was only her, then everyone else were alive, and they wouldn't perish, right? "I was just tired, that's all. I've been really busy lately." She told China, and although he squinted at her with a look of disbelief, he let go of the subject.

After their late dinner, China suggested they go to the top of the roof to watch the Christmas fireworks. He climbed up first, and held out a hand to help Liechtenstein up. They sat side by side on the rooftop, staring out into the night sky. Liechtenstein was trying hard to forget the vivid images she had seen before, and doing a bad job of it.

"Liechtenstein... I... can I ask you something?" China suddenly asked her.

She nodded absentmindedly. The cold breeze picked up a strand of her hair and played with it. She shivered slightly.

"How do you define love, aru?" He looked away from her.

This time Liechtenstein turned to him, her breath catching in her throat. "What do you mean?"

"How is it supposed to really feel?"

"I... I don't really know." Her heart started doing double speed. "Why?"

China blushed a brilliant shade of red. "I think... well... I really like you, Liechtenstein, aru, it's just that..."

The sudden crack of fireworks lit up the night. Liechtenstein saw her reflection flickering in China's eyes. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. The way he was looking at her... Suddenly, she knew exactly how he was feeling. Love was the kind of thing that made you feel like that special person was your whole world. And you feel happy with them. And you'd give anything to be with them.

She couldn't tell too well in the flickering light, but it seemed like China was slowly leaning toward her. And she didn't know what to do. Her mind ranted on, and her heart beat faster, but she was frozen.

The fireworks boomed in the sky, and a wave of light spread across the horizon before it all went dark again.

China froze. And then he pulled back, quickly scrambling to his feet. "I'm sorry, Liechtenstein. I'm sorry, aru." He jumped up and climbed down from the rooftop. "I'm sorry..."

The fireworks cackled once more. And Liechtenstein was still frozen in that position, staring at the place where China had been. She didn't know what to do. She knew one thing, and that was the fact that she realized exactly how China was feeling. And she realized that he really did have special feelings for her. And she felt them too.

Except the feelings that she felt weren't for him.

_You shouldn't be saying sorry, China. I should. I'm the one that should be apologizing right now. I'm sorry, China. I'm so sorry._

* * *

**What do you think?  
Note: More China next chapter, and also... next chapter marks the beginning of the Christmas party and a flurry of other things, so get ready!**


	17. Enjoy Christmas

**Hey! Thanks again for the wonderful reviews ^^ Here's a brief chapter to lead into... *drumroll, please!* ...Francis's Christmas party!**

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**XVII. Enjoy Christmas  
****Christmas Day**

Liechtenstein opened her mouth in a giant yawn, and then pushed herself up on China's guest bed. Her green eyes locked on the snowflakes falling down out the window.

It was Christmas Day. France's party was that night. And this Christmas, she was going to enjoy herself to the fullest.

But her mind kept winding back to what had happened the night before. Her fingers trailed along the window as she gazed out into the gently falling snow. Lilli could still see China's face vividly in her mind when he had leaned in toward her... to do what? He couldn't have wanted to kiss her, could he? Or maybe he really had been trying... Liechtenstein suddenly dropped her chin down on her arm, which was resting above the windowsill. She realized that China had been trying to tell her all along, and she had been blind. But she'd never paid attention to that kind of stuff, and she'd never been paid much attention from the other nations, either. Until now.

Liechtenstein tried to tell herself that maybe China didn't really love her, and that he would forget and move on. But she knew that he did love her, even if he never said it outloud. She couldn't forget the pain in his eyes when he had run off. Just the little flash of hurt and disappointment was enough to make her insides knot up. She didn't want to hurt China, yet... She loved him, but not in the same way that he loved her.

Two white snowflakes spun around, circling each other, and then stuck to the window. Liechtenstein watched as they melted away. She sighed, and a cloud of mist covered the window. The familiar feeling of being on the verge of tears came back to her, so she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to keep the tears at bay. That only made them spill over harder. Why? There was no reason to be crying...

Suddenly, the memories came rushing back. Italy, America, China, her big brother, her friends... all dying on the battlefield. And she had been helpless. Was that how she would be when the battle came? Helpless?

But that horrible black thing... the Darkness... how could she be sure that it wasn't just showing her lies? And why would it even bother to show her the truth? So she could see what would happen and plan an escape? No...

It probably chose to show her the illusion so that she would break down. The Darkness knew she was weak and vulnerable and naive and gullible and all those things. It had found her weakness. And maybe in that final battle –if it was to happen- she wouldn't be able to do anything. She couldn't be strong when everyone close to her was hurting. But maybe if she could convince the Darkness to take her... it did seem to be interested in her, after all, then all the others would be rescued.

The sound of clanging pots and pans in the kitchen brought her out of her reverie. Lilli gave a small sigh and reached up to wipe away the remaining traces of her tears. She tugged the warm blanket away and put a tentative foot to the ground, and then crossed the room on her tip toes to put on warmer and more appropriate day-time clothing. After brushing her teeth and tying her dear violet ribbon in her hair, she slipped on a pair of flats and wandered into the kitchen.

China was setting out eating utensils on the table. Liechtenstein immediately smelled cheese fondue, her favorite food, as she approached her seat.

"Good morning China. Thank you for making this!" She said cheerfully, attempting to lift the mood. China nodded, answering in a small voice:

"I know it's your favorite, aru. There's no need to thank me."

The awkward silence seemed to stretch on for forever as they each assumed their position and began eating. Disappointment piled rocks inside her stomach. She'd never had awkward silences with China before.

"China, I-" She began, but China cut her off.

"Liechtenstein, listen, aru. I'm terribly sorry about what happened last night. I just..." He stopped, amber eyes locked on the contents on his plate.

Liechtenstein watched China, her green eyes filled with concern and slight confusion. "China, I love you." She told him, and when he looked up, eyes filled with hope, she was almost convinced to just leave it at that. But no, that wouldn't be right. "I love you, but not in that way. I love you as a friend. A very close friend, but nothing more."

His eyes immediately dropped down to the wooden table, and she knew that she had hurt him once more. Without saying a word, she got on her feet and walked to China's seat. She put a hand on his shoulder, but when she looked closer, she saw glistening tears. Her eyes widened in alarm and worry.

"China?" She knelt down beside his chair and wrapped one arm around his middle, the other slowly stroking his hair. "China, I'm sorry." She said. "Please smile. Don't be sad." A hint of desperation had entered her voice. She hated seeeing him so wounded.

"It- It's not y- you who should be a- apologizing." He said, his words choked up from the quiet sobs.

Realizing that she'd said the wrong thing, Lilli remained silent and instead took China's hand. He looked at her, surprise showing through the glistening tears, as she pulled him over to the sofa and sat him down. She quietly sat down beside him and stroked his back.

"China, don't cry. I love you China. Don't cry." She told him, just like how Switzerland had once told her when she had a terrible nightmare. But this time it was different. "It's ok. You'll always be my friend, and I won't respect you any less. Everything will turn out alright. Don't cry, China. Smile."

Liechtenstein reached for China's hand, grasping it tightly. "We can fix this together. I'll help you." She held his hand until the sobs finally subdued, muttering quiet words of comfort.

"It's going to be okay."

China looked up at her, disbelief showing clearly on his face and pain deeply imprinted in his eyes. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and her fingers trailed over them in a weak attempt to smooth out the lines. Her hand eventually dropped down to her side, and she looked to the ground.

"Thank you." China finally told her, a bittersweet smile gracing his lips. This time she smiled along with him, and placed a little kiss upon his cheeks.

"You'll always be a very close friend, you know that, right?"

"I hope you never change your mind, aru." He told her, and she used her hands to wipe away the glistening crystals of tears. "And with everything that I've done before, especially the plot with Russia... I can't believe that you still accept me."

"I always will." She said to him. And she was sure that that was one of the few things in her life that would never change. She would always love her China, no matter what happens. And although it wasn't the kind of love that would make the both of them happy, it was enough.

* * *

The shaded blackness of the night shadowed Liechtenstein as she walked toward French's huge mansion doors. A pit of nervousness had settled in her stomach.

"It's my first party, China. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do." She griped his hand tightly, and China smiled down at her. Her dress swept at her ankles as she walked down the path unsteadily in new heels.

"Relax. It'll be fine. All the nations there are your friends. And Kiku will be there, too, right?" At the mentioned name, Liechtenstein spotted Japan waiting by the doors. He smiled, the features of his face softening as he saw her and China.

"All right, Liechtenstein. Stay safe. I'll be back. Taiwan wants me for something." China gave her hand a final reassuring squeeze and then left to look for his sister.

"Konnichiwa, Liechtenstein. Shall we go?" Japan asked her, holding out his arm. She linked her arm through.

"Let's go, ja!" And with that, they pushed open the heavy doors to the mansion and walked in.


	18. A world gathering at Christmas

**Long chapter, so I'm just gonna get on with it. (Whoo hoo! 100 reviews!) Chapter warning: Switching POVS, but it should be pretty easy to tell who's who.**

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**XVIII. World gathering**

Liechtenstein halted at the grand wooden door to the sound of beautiful, soothing Christmas music (At least, she guessed it was Christmas music, because the song seemed to be in French.) She scanned the room quickly, eyes darting back and forth between the big chandelier, the huge buffet tables, and the giant ballroom that held everything inside it. And surprisingly, nations were actually dancing with each other and not screaming their heads off, for once.

"Bonjour, ma cherie." France suddenly popped out of nowhere, startling Liechtenstein. She took a small step back, and Japan eyed France with a look full of disdain.

"Good evening, Mr. France. Thank you for inviting me here." Lilli managed a small smile and curtsied politely.

"France-san, please let us pass." Japan spoke up, and France's lustful gaze lingered on Liechtenstein for a second more before he stepped aside.

"Alright. Have fun!" He winked at Lilli, sending cold shivers up her spine. She nodded, and then grabbed the hems of her dress to catch up to Japan.

"Have fun Liechtenstein." Japan gave her a small smile, pausing in a corner of the dance floor. "I'm going to distribute my presents. I'll be back."

Liechtenstein nodded, gesturing to the bags of presents she had been clutching onto. "I have to do it too. See you later!" She grinned, and as soon as Japan had gone, she whirled around to pinpoint her first destination, Iceland's Christmas tree.

* * *

America stood near the entrance to France's huge ballroom, set up as the ideal place for a grand Christmas party. He had to admit that no matter how perverted France could get, his parties were to die for. At Christmas time, France usually held big parties at his place. The fun thing was that each guest had a mini Christmas tree set up against the wall, and others would leave presents at whoever's tree they preferred. Alfred greatly enjoyed this custom, especially when it came to receiving presents from so many nations. He was pondering over the presents that he had in the bag slung over his shoulder and how he would distribute them without company noticing/ Thoughtful look on his face, he approached Francis Bonnefoy, who smelled heavily of perfume.

"Bonjour America!" The wavy haired blonde winked at him in an unsettling suggestive manner, but he was used to it by now.

"Party couldn't have started without the hero, huh?" He gave a confident grin, pushing Texas further up. Ignoring France's rant on how he was always late and where England always wandered to, he pushed past him and strode into the grand ballroom.

Music was playing, that was the first thing he noticed. Many nations were dancing around, and a considerate number were dropping off presents. The second thing he noticed, or rather, smelled, was the huge plate of hamburgers at the buffet tables. And the third thing was Liechtenstein.

Pretty little Liechtenstein was going from tree to tree, distributing her presents with great care and precision. America watched as she paused to smile at a cheery Italian, and then wound up distributing the rest of her presents with Feliciano by her side. For a brief second, he was annoyed at Italy, but that didn't last long. He didn't have a real reason to be annoyed, and anyway, the night was too good to waste by being irritated. Instead, he drew his gaze away from Liechtenstein. He'd talk to her later, but now, he also had some presents to give away.

America proceeded to his first destination. He dug through the bag of presents quickly, and pulled out England's present. A cooking manual... England was ought to accept it. Passing tree by tree, he noticed many nations dancing around together. Christmas was one of the only times of the year where he could see nations actually cooperating and being friendly, and he was glad for that.

The sail of a violet ribbon caught his eye. He quickly identified its owner, Liechtenstein. Why was he always noticing Lilli lately? It wasn't like she was any more special than Taiwan, or Belarus, or Belgium, or even Seychelles. Why did he always find himself yearning to be with her, to protect her, to see her smile, to make her laugh? That was strange... And even stranger was that she actually seemed to enjoy his company. Few people could stand his loudness and outgoing personality for so long.

America noted to himself to make sure to ask Liechtenstein for a dance later on. Just one little dance wouldn't hurt, right?

Alfred was so busy watching Liechtenstein that he didn't notice that he'd almost tripped over Latvia. The little nation in red stared at him, terrified, stuttering a few words of apology and then ran off in the other direction. He shrugged to himself, and resumed with his present distribution

When he was done, America made his way to the dance floor. Almost immediately, Taiwan came up to him, smiling widely.

"Wanna dance?' She asked, and he accepted, taking her slender hands in his. As they twirled past Liechtenstein, he noticed that she was now dancing with Italy. He could hear snippets of their conversation floating by. It was just like sweet Liechtenstein not to become fed up with Italy Veneziano's constant excitement.

"Sorry, Liechtenstein, ve!" Alfred guessed that he'd stepped on her foot or something like that.

"No problem. Practice makes perfect, doesn't it?" Liechtenstein laughed slightly.

"Ve~! Of course! Hey, wanna come over for pasta tomorrow?" America swore that Italy really did like Liechtenstein, more than his pasta, even. Vash would have his head if he did anything to Lilli, though. So would Alfred.

"I have to leave for Japan tomorrow, so I can't come. But I'll see you in Japan, so we can eat there!" Lilli said, and then the two of them started planning things to do in Japan. Taiwan and him twirled away out into a more quiet corner of the dance floor.

The current song started softening and lulled into a calm melody instead. America hesitated, but then removed his hands from Taiwan's. "Dude, catch ya later!" He told her, trying to avoid her hurt look, and sidestepped, craning his neck to search for Lilli.

He finally found her, once again at the center of the floor, this time dancing with... Canada? His own shyer little brother? Canada... had found the courage to ask Liechtenstein for a dance, and she'd actually noticed him, unlike the other nations. Suddenly, a strange, overwhelming feeling came over him. He leaned against the wall, trying to wait for the slight wave of nausea to pass.

America wandered around bluntly for the rest of the dance, staking out his Christmas tree. When it was time to eat, he finally made his way over to Liechtenstein, glad that she was standing alone at last. But wait, hadn't he always wanted to be in the center of attention? So why was he so eager to just be alone with Liechtenstein?

"Liech!" He waved at her, seemingly out of breath. She turned to him, a smile gracing her lips, and he thought he'd never seen anyone look so... breathtaking, so beautiful. Lilli's usual rosy red dress had been swapped for an emerald colored one, with its hem grazing her ankles. As she moved to walk toward him, he saw the tip of ink-colored flats. She smiled, reaching out to take hold of his wrist, and pulled him to the place where she had been standing before. America grinned sheepishly.

He set a giant hamburger (a French style hamburger, of course) on his plate, while Liechtenstein lingered around the cheese fondues. When she returned, plate full of cheeses and sandwiches, they made small talk, mostly about other nations and Lilli's upcoming visit to Japan. America wasn't loud, and he wasn't annoying, and he didn't find himself getting bored of their conversation like he usually would with any other nation.

After a while, Prussia arrived with a tall cup of beer and insisted on getting Liechtenstein to try his "self-proclaimed awesome Prussian beer". After that, the two nations got into a heated argument about beer and wine, and America was surprised to see that Lilli had such fire in her. But Prussia, in his opinion, was talking just a bit too much with Liechtenstein. And anyways, he thought that Gilbert had gone away with Switzerland. Why was he at France's party?

But eventually, Prussia left after France dragged him away, muttering something about meeting Spain and spreading the l'amour. America chatted with Liechtenstein delightfully once more, taking occasional bites of his burger. Soon, almost all the nations had finished eating and was ready to go back to dancing.

"Liechtenstein." America held out his hand, suddenly feeling his blood rush faster. "May I... I mean, dude, wanna- Wait, that doesn't sound right." He fumbled with his glasses, red faced and studying his boots like they were the most interesting things in the world.

"I'm guessing you were asking her to dance, right? This is how England taught me. Watch and learn!" Suddenly, Sealand cut in out of nowhere and took Lilli in his arms. He bowed in front of her.

"May I have this dance?"

Giggling, Liechtenstein did a little curtsy, and gave America an apologetic look as Sealand all but dragged her away. He was left to watch her once again, all the while trying not to make it apparent that he was paying any attention. Finally, America gave up and went to look for England. He was going to teach that tea-loving freak a lesson.

* * *

After a short while, Liechtenstein left Sealand to go over to her little Christmas tree. It was time to open presents. She carefully unwrapped the little boxes.

A new dress from Hungary, a few piano books from Austria (all expensive looking of course- Switzerland would most likely go mad if he found her practicing from these), a new embroidery set from England, a little gemstone cat from Japan, and much more.

Liechtenstein looked up as a shadow passed over her.

"Hey, dude! Watcha got there?" America asked, leaning over to look at the little present she now held in her hands. It must have been his present, for it had wrapping paper in the image of the American flag. Liechtenstein gave a small laugh, and gestured for Alfred to sit down next to her as she opened the present.

The top of the box popped off and several embroidered ribbons slipped out. Liechtenstein's mouth hung open as she examined the contents of the box.

"They're beautiful!" She exclaimed, stroking the soft material of the ribbons with her fingers. She picked up a velvet scarlet one, untying her violet ribbon and arranging the new one into her blonde hair.

"How does it look?" She asked worriedly.

"Beautiful." America told her, and she smiled at him once again.

Liechtenstein fumbled with the ruffles of her skirt and finally handed a little box to America. "It's my present to you!" She cheerfully pushed it into his hands, and watched as he opened it to see handmade pins with various shapes, some of hamburgers and Tony, some of the American flag. She giggled when his blue eyes widened.

"These are so well-made!" He told her, holding the pin up into the light.

"Do you like them?" She asked timidly.

"I love them!" He declared, and a broad smile came over her face.

Liechtenstein suddenly noticed that many nations were starting to gather on one side of the room, arguing about something. And the noise was quickly growing louder and louder. She stood up and pulled America along toward the increasing crowd.

French seemed to be explaining some sort of game, and arguing with England.

"That does not sound right, da." Russia spoke up, and France whirled to look at him.

"But of course it does. It involves l'amour, you see."

"It doesn't make sense, you git!" Liechtenstein watched anxiously as England and France quarreled. She'd always hated it when other nations spoke loudly and cursed at each other. And tonight was no exception.

"Shut up! Can we all just do our own things? I have no time to waste with you dummkopfs!" Came Germany's voice. Liechtenstein flinched, and America put a hand on her arm.

"You shut up you potato loving bastard!" Romano yelled, his curl vibrating wildly. "And stay away from my brother!"

"I don't-"

"Hey now, Romano, there's no need to yell." Spain said, trying to calm down the riled up Italian.

"Yeah! The awesome Prussia's here to solve all your problems! Kesesese!"

A frying pan hit Prussia's head, and Germany turned around, bumping into a white flag-waving Italian. And then it all went crazy.

Liechtenstein observed from a corner as tomatoes were thrown, wrapping paper flew through the air, and several warning gunshots were fired. Silently, she exited the noisy room. She didn't want to see the nations yelling at each other and hurting one another. Closing the door softly behind her, she wandered through the hallways until she found the door to the balcony.

She sat down on a woven chair, staring out into the night sky. She wondered where Switzerland was and what he was doing, and why she had never thought to ask Prussia about her brother. The cool evening wind swept around her, and suddenly she felt colder than usual.

Liechtenstein thought she saw a black shadow flickering somewhere near the door to France's mansion, but then it was probably her eyes playing tricks on her. It was dark out, after all. But even though she usually enjoyed the quiet of the night, it was starting to scare her. Cold chills ran down her back, and she really was considering coming back to the noisy party room when three raps on the door jerked her back to reality.

"Liechtenstein?" The door opened slightly and Liechtenstein saw America's face peek in. She nodded at him, and he walked out, plopping into the opposite chair.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, and she shook her head.

"I'm just getting some fresh air, I guess." She told him, her heart rate slowly coming back to normal.

He searched her face like he knew there was something more than just that. Instead of confessing to him about her worries and her fears, Liechtenstein just smiled and took his hand.

"Hey Liech... May I have this dance?" Suddenly America stood up and held out his other hand to her.

She giggled at his sudden formality. "Yes, you may." Liechtenstein let him take her hands in his and they stepped away from the chairs, slow dancing to the rhythm of their own off beat humming. There was no real music, only the melody from her hums and his occasional singing. And there weren't any fancy lights or people watching. It was only her and America. And suddenly Liechtenstein felt like she was seeing a change in him.

America's blue eyes were staring into hers, and Liechtenstein felt self-conscious. Looking to the ground to hide her blush, she counted the rhythm in her mind. Something felt strangely like deja vu.

The moonlight shone down on them, creating a moonlit trail leading from the door toward where they were dancing. Her feet kept in rhythm with his, and she had finally found the courage to look up at him. He was smiling at her, and there was something in his blue eyes that made her unable to look away. But she couldn't just keep going like that. She couldn't fall for America...

"Liechtenstein..." His words trailed off, as if carried away by the beautiful silver rays of light and her offbeat humming. Lilli felt like she was in a daze, like nothing was real. Until her eye caught a flash of something black behind Alfred.

"America! Watch out!" Liechtenstein sprang to life, pushing America behind her and holding her arms out to protect him from the growing mass of dark shadows. She saw his eyes widen, and then he grabbed her hand.

"No, stand back. It's just a shadow or something, right?"

Liechtenstein was too scared to protest. She clung onto America's bomber jacket. The Darkness was so close to them... so close.

The door to the balcony was suddenly flung wide open, and a gun shot fired into the air.

"Switzerland! Stay back!" She screamed as the Darkness began to slide over toward him. Oh no... Not her brother, no. And America...

Was her darkest nightmare coming true?

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Oh, how I love my cliffhangers!**


	19. Can't lose you

**Whoo hoo! Chapter 19! I can't believe I've gotten so far!  
Important author's note at the end of the story.**

* * *

**XIX. Can't lose you  
****Night of December 25th**

Liechtenstein watched as the Darkness slowly sidled over toward her brother, and in a moment of panic, she threw herself at him. "Bruder, stand back!" She screamed, and would have lost her balance and dropped to the floor if Switzerland didn't catch her in time.

"Are you crazy, Liechtenstein?" He huffed, then pushed her behind him into the hallway. "America! Come!" He beckoned, and there was such an urgent feel to his voice that America came running. As soon as he had ducked through the doorway, Switzerland slipped after them and slammed the door tightly. Liechtenstein clung to her brother.

"We must get to the helicopters." He said, and started running, winding his way around corners and hallways and up flights of stairs. Liechtenstein rushed after him, breathing hard.

"Dude, what helicopter?" America panted behind them. "I didn't know that France had helicopters in his house."

"He doesn't." Switzerland snapped. Liechtenstein's pulse raced with the tension in the air. "These helicopters are from the headquarters, and they'll bring you back to the surveillance building." He paused to make some strange signs with his hands, and suddenly Canada's face peeked down at them from the ceiling and a ladder dropped down. Switzerland pushed America up first, then Liechtenstein, and he climbed up after her.

Liechtenstein squinted her eyes into the darkness as her head emerged from the light of France's huge mansion into the dark night. Luckily, someone had thoughtfully set up little lanterns around the area, and she could now see that they were up on the roof of France's house. When she turned to ask Switzerland where they were supposed to go, she found that her big brother had disappeared and she was left to stand alone next to America. Though they weren't really alone, she supposed, as a wave of nations ran around the roof, yelling in panic.

Somebody brushed past her and shoved her to the side.

"Hey, hamburger bastard, get out of the way!" Liechtenstein recognized Romano's voice. "Oh, scusi Liechtenstein!" This time the Italian turned to her, apology written over his face. "Have you seen Veneziano? I've been looking everywhere, but he's nowhere to be seen."

Liechtenstein shook her head, anxious green eyes searching the whole area. "Maybe he's over there." She pointed to a cluster of nations, and Romano rushed off after muttering a 'thank you'. Liechtenstein was about to run after him to help, but someone pulled her back.

"Canada!" She gasped, and the quiet nation nodded, a grim smile spreading across his face. Without a word, he led her and America toward a helicopter and gestured toward the open door.

"Go in. Switzerland will be in there, and he'll explain to you what's going on." He said, his voice barely able to be heard above the roaring calls and panicked screams of the other nations.

"Aren't you coming?" America asked, lingering beside the doorway. Liechtenstein detected a hint of fear and worry for his brother in Alfred's eyes, and she knew that she must have looked the same. Her hand fisted into a tight, nervous ball.

Canada shook his head. "I'll be in another 'copter, but I'll meet you there." With those final words, he gave them a little wave and rushed off.

America's gaze trailed after his brother, and then he took her hand. "Come on, Liech." He let her go in first and then followed after. As soon as they had climbed in, the door immediately slammed shut and Switzerland was there to take her hand and guide her to her seat.

America sat down in the seat next to her, and the silence that followed when they had just come in was now replaced by frantic words and curses. Liechtenstein heard nations muttering about their siblings, their friends, their allies, and what the heck was supposed to happen. Suddenly, she was distracted by the noisy conversations when Switzerland griped her hand.

"We're taking off." He told her, and then pointed toward the cockpit. "Netherlands's flying."

She nodded, taking a moment to survey her surroundings. She felt a bit overwhelmed, and still completely lightning-struck about the events that had just happened. One moment she was feeling absolutely afraid of the Darkness, and the next she was sitting in a helicopter, flying to a strange new place. That said, she still wasn't clear about what would happen next.

"Liech, you ok? You look..." America made a face, and Liechtenstein had to laugh.

"I look bad, don't I?" And she felt bad, too, like she was ready to pass out. Switzerland's watch said that it was only around 9 o'clock, but she already felt beat. And with all the things that were ought to happen, she didn't think that she'd be getting any sleep that night.

"Switzerland-" She turned to look at her brother, but he was now standing up instead and knocking his rifle to the headrest to get everyone's attention. Liechtenstein counted about 14 nations sitting around in the medium-sized helicopter. When Switzerland cleared his throat, they all looked up expectantly.

"Um..." Her brother said uncomfortably, but then he seemed to remember what he was going to say next. "I know that there have been chaos tonight-"

"What was that black thing out there? I thought it was a shadow or something, but then it started to move and it grabbed onto France and Italy." Sealand spoke up, eyeing Switzerland and then noticed Liechtenstein. She gave him a slight smile, but at the mention of Italy, she couldn't help feeling like something was wrong. Romano and Germany had both ended up in the same helicopter as her, but Italy was nowhere to be seen. Maybe... maybe he was with Prussia, or Japan, or... Hungary.

America must have seen the worry etched across her face, because he squeezed her arm slightly. "It's gonna be fine." He grinned at her, although she noticed that even America seemed a little tired and wary.

"That black thing you saw goes by the name of the Darkness." Switzerland explained, and Liechtenstein wondered how Sealand had also seen the Darkness when it was actually out on the balcony where she and America had been. "We actually don't know how the Darkness got to Earth, but we've come to the conclusion that it has come to conquer our planet, using the little bits of darkness we all hold in ourselves."

Immediately, there were questions from the other nations.

"Darkness? I don't have any darkness inside me." Poland said, stroking his pony, which had somehow gotten on the helicopter along with the other nations.

"Wait, how long have you been studying this thing, the Darkness or whatever it is?" England called out from his place beside Sealand.

"How many of you are there?" Came the quiet voice of Ukraine, and then suddenly the helicopter became very noisy with shouted-out questions. Liechtenstein's head spun.

"Quiet!"

All the nations fell silent. Poland's pony let out a slight neigh. Spain inched away from Germany, who looked like he was ready to explode. And Liechtenstein watched silently as he slowly calmed down, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"All right..." Switzerland said, and once more everyone focused on him. "To answer your questions, yes, each and every one of us has some kind of darkness within, whether it be jealousy, sadness, hatred, or the hunger for power. Each and every one of us. And we, meaning me, Netherlands, Prussia, the Nordics, Austria and Hungary, and many other nations, have been taking notice of this dark force for a while now. You may have noticed that many of us hadn't been attending world meetings, and that is the reason. Some of us were required to stay back and build surveillance headquarter so that we can observe the Darkness and have a place for you to stay once the Darkness strikes."

"But I saw Prussia at the party today, and Iceland and Hungary too." Taiwan piped up.

Switzerland nodded to her. "Some of us were to just carry on normally with the other nations, but they were actually observers of the Darkness. They were the ones that alerted us when the Darkness struck tonight."

"Big brother, how come Sealand saw the Darkness, and I did too? Weren't we in two different places?" Liechtenstein spoke up, tugging on her brother's army sleeve. He paused and looked down at her.

"The Darkness isn't just one thing. It is usually seen as a mass of blackness, but it can separate itself into small parts, too." Vash looked up at the others again. "We didn't expect it to strike so soon, but luckily we just finished the building. So from now on, that is where we will all stay until the Darkness has been destroyed."

"How can it be destroyed?" Sealand asked boldly, getting up on his feet, but was immediately pulled down again by England and rebuckled behind his seatbelt. Liechtenstein knew what her friend was thinking, but she also knew that this wasn't a matter of proving his heroics to the bigger nations so they would acknowledge him. This was too serious a matter.

Lilli glanced up at her brother after a long silence from him, and saw that he had a defeated look on his face. "We don't know yet." He finally said, and those 4 words sent a fearful silence over everyone in the helicopter. The dreadful truth was slowly dawning on all the nations. Romano shifted uneasily, and many nations looked as if they were about to cry.

Switzerland finally sat back down in his seat. "Big bruder, where is this headquarter?" Liechtenstein asked quietly, looking up into his tired emerald eyes.

"It's in Switzerland, Lilli." He grumbled. "Do you realize how much it costs to build a giant building right in the middle of me?"

Despite the situation, she let out a small laugh. "If we win against the Darkness, big bruder, then I expect that all the other nations will pay you back a large sum of money."

Switzerland nodded slowly, closing his eyes and leaning back against his chair. "If we win, Liechtenstein. If."

* * *

Liechtenstein realized that she had actually taken a short nap, and by the time she woke up, they had arrived at the headquarter. America was carrying her in his arms, which almost made her have a heart attack because she had thought that for some reason, it was France. When she demanded to be put down in a flustered manner, America silently let her stand. Her feet didn't feel steady, and she swayed back and forth, trying to regain balance.

"Your brother said that coming in close contact with the Darkness can make a person feel dizzy and lightheaded. Don't worry, it won't last very long." America told her, and his voice was dead serious. For once, she didn't feel the playfulness radiating off him.

"Here." He held out his arm, and she linked hers around it, using it to support her as she followed Switzerland and the other nations into the headquarter. From the outside, it looked like a very big, very formal blue building. But now that she was standing inside it, it seemed even bigger.

"We're one of the first helicopters to arrive back." Netherlands announced.

Vash nodded. "We have to wait for the others, but later, we're going to show you to your rooms. The males and females have rooms on separate floors, and you can choose to room with another nation. This is a surveillance building, so one whole floor is dedicated to watching the Darkness and its activities. And... starting from tomorrow, we're going to have to send out a patrol everyday to find out its weaknesses and try to destroy it. We can't be cooped up in here forever."

Liechtenstein swayed, and she felt like she wasn't really listening at all. Oh, how her head hurt. Luckily, America was there next to her.

In the next few minutes, the helicopters had all arrived, and all the nations were crowding around inside the big building. There was a big stampede when everyone was trying to find their friends and siblings, but Liechtenstein was too tired to take much notice. If it wasn't for America propping her up and asking every second if she was okay, she would have fallen asleep on her feet. After the Darkness had been explained once again, and the original team of Darkness observers were introduced, nations were starting to hustle up to their rooms. America guided Liechtenstein over to Hungary and the group of girls surrounding her so they could help her up to her room, as he obviously couldn't.

"What?" Hungary seemed to be talking to Romano and Germany, but Liechtenstein couldn't see very clearly. "Are you sure he wasn't on one of the other helicopters?"

Suddenly, she felt very alert. Slipping her arm out of America's hold, she walked unsteadily toward Romano. "Have you found Italy?" She asked, fearing his answer, yet already knowing what it would be.

"He's nowhere. We've asked all around, and no one has seen him. He wasn't on any of the other helicopters, either." Germany answered her question, and Liechtenstein felt weak at the knees. Italy... Feliciano... he couldn't still be back at France's place, could he?

"Hey, everyone, stop!" Hungary belted out, and all the nations stopped in their tracks. They gave all their attention to Hungary, which surprised Liechtenstein, because the nations had never been so cooperative and attentive. Though, she only noticed the surprise in a small part of her mind, because she had gone numb. Italy... where could he be?

"I'm gonna count off all of you. Say here if you hear your name." She said, and began reading from a very long list. Liechtenstein waited impatiently, but Italy's name came and went. He wasn't there.

After the nations had dutifully answered to their names, Canada told them that they could go, but Finland had to repeat that since barely anyone was able to hear the Canadian. The room quickly cleared, until only Liechtenstein, America, Romano, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and the rest of Switzerland's group remained.

"He's not here." Hungary announced, and almost immediately, Netherlands, Denmark, and Prussia volunteered to go back to France's place to look for Italy. Germany insisted that he came along, and Hungary was also coming with them. Liechtenstein almost volunteered, herself, but then Switzerland took her hand from America's and steered her toward the elevator. She realized that she'd remained silent the whole time and now it was too late.

"Don't worry. We'll find him." America told her, and she nodded, but her mind was numb. What if Italy had been taken by the Darkness? What if... what if he was... go-

"I think... this time I do trust you, Switzy, so you better bring back my fratello, safe and sound." Romano fumed at Switzerland, but Liechtenstein noticed that he was quiet upset, too.

"We're trying our best." Switzerland told him, and then scowled. "Don't call me Switzy."

"Whatever you say, Switzy."

Liechtenstein felt a bit annoyed that the other nations weren't really taking the situation seriously, but then she realized that maybe they were just trying to lighten up the mood. And if Switzerland wasn't being serious... there was actually a –dare she say it- high chance of Italy being found. Feeling a bit less numb and a little more hopeful, Liechtenstein climbed into the elevator along with her brother, and said good bye to him when she arrived on her floor. Although she was definitely more hopeful, she couldn't help but burst into tears when she saw Belgium waiting for her, her arms outstretched.

"Shh, it's okay Liechtenstein. They'll find Italy, you'll see." Patting her head, Belgium led her into an open room. "Don't cry. It will be alright."

Liechtenstein nodded, all the while trying to stop the tears from coming. She knew that everyone would do their best to make sure Feli was back safe and sound, but she couldn't help but worry. What if Italy had gone before they reached him? What if they never found him? And... where would she be without him? How would she be able to live without... Feliciano?

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Since I first published this story, I've been updating very regularly, about once every two days or so. I'm very grateful to my readers and I want to let them know that, and so I update often! (It's also because I just can't stop the ideas from trailing in and once they're there, I've just got to get them down on paper- or Microsoft Word, in this case-.) That's not going to change, but because it's summer and I'm able to go on more vacations (and also summer classes and do summer homework. Will they ever let you have a real break?), sometimes I might be updating a little later than the deadline. I just wanted to say that so in case I do miss a day or two, no one will get worried. Also, I do accept one-shot requests, although those may not be up until after this fic is done (I still have Ayumi Kudou's one-shot, but I promise that it will get done). There might be an occasional one-shot out ahead of schedule for when I want a little break from (writing a story about darkness), or when I have low muse and need something to help me build it up. If you'd like to request a one-shot, just tell me the pairing you'd like to appear and a summary. Note that I won't be using all the one-shot ideas, just the ones that inspire me the most, and even if I do take up your suggestion, it might not be out until after this story is done. If I do write your one-shot, I will probably change it around a bit, so expect changes and surprises. That's all I wanted to say. Pasta~!**

PDAN (PastaDayAndNight)


	20. All alone

**This chapter is from Feli's POV!  
Warning: The italics in the middle is from Italy's dream, and if you recognize it, yes, it is from the prologue of this story. But instead of being in Liechtenstein's POV, this time it's in Italy's. You'll know the reason why in the next chapter.**

* * *

**XX. All alone**

Italy remembered that he was trying to calm Germany and his fratello when the black thing suddenly appeared. It eased its way through the crowd of people and grabbed him and France. But France had been holding on to England and he got away easily. But he himself was a different matter.

He wondered if he'd fallen unconscious, and then concluded that he must have. Now, he was just waking up to the ruins of France's house. It had collapsed entirely to the ground, and shattered pieces lay everywhere. At least he was lying away from the mess and not under it.

But how had he gotten there? Hadn't he just been inside the house? And where was everyone else?

Italy scrambled to his feet, cupping his hands around his mouth. Germany had to be around there somewhere, and Liechtenstein would be waiting for him. And Japan would be there too. And so would his fratello. Right?

"Germany!" He called, walking unsteadily toward the ruins of France's house. "Germany! Liechtenstein! Japan! Fratello! Prussia!" His curl wavered slightly when nobody answered.

"Is anyone here?" He tried again, his eyebrows creasing into a confused expression. Where had everyone gone? Were they alright?

"_Italia. Nice to meet you._" A voice suddenly rang out. Italy instinctively turned around, shrinking back towards the ruins of the house. The voice didn't sound particularly nice.

"Who are you?" He called out, trying to be brave and steady his heart, just like Germany had taught him.

"_Oh, if you must know, I am the personification of Darkness._" The air in front of him seemed to shimmer, and a shape materialized. Now there was a girl facing him, her eyes a blood red color, her hair raven black, and her skin ghostly white.

"There's a nation called Darkness?" Italy asked bluntly, unable to read the tense and malicious atmosphere that the little girl had brought with her. Although, there was some kind of chill running up his arms, making goosebumps rise. "And you're a girl? From your voice, I would have thought that you were a boy, ve." He leaned forward to study the little girl closer. She was definitely pretty, but no where near Liechtenstein. And she wasn't as nice and sweet, either. She was a little scary.

"_No. I am not a nation._" The girl face palmed, just like Germany often did. Italy wondered if she was of German descend. But then suddenly the girl vaporized, and standing in her place was a boy, with eyes and hair the exact color of blood red and ebony black as before.

"How can you do that, ve?" He asked, studying the boy curiously. But instead, the boy took a few steps forward and stuck his hand right into Italy's face.

Italy shrank back and tripped on a piece of glass, sending him tumbling into the midst of the ruins. The broken glass shards ripped at his skin. He backed away, horror etching across his face. "Go away! You're not good. You're a bad person. And Germany... Germany will protect me. A- And Liechtenstein will be here, too. She'll help me, just like she did at Russia's house, ve."

The boy smiled. Italy didn't like his smile. It never reached his cold eyes. "_Oh, but China was the one that got you out of that mess, right? And Germany isn't even here with you now. He left with everyone else. And so did your lovely Liechtenstein._"

"What? But they wouldn't leave without me, ve." He told the boy, trying to get up from his fall. The boy pushed a shoe to his chest.

"_Oh, would they? And why do you think they'll bring you along?_" His voice had such a terribly fake sweetness to it that it made Italy suspicious. He narrowed his eyes. He had to be careful around this boy.

"Because they're my friends. They wouldn't leave me behind." He answered indignantly.

"_Are you sure now?_" The boy had taken on a smirk, and Italy felt quite ueasy. What was he trying to get at? He knew that Germany and Liechtenstein were his friends. _Or... were they?_

"I'm sure, ve."

"_But why would someone like them be friends with someone like you? Germany is probably grossed out by your strange habits and he probably wants nothing to do with you, but he's just too nice to say so. And Liechtenstein has better friends to be with, anyways. She's just too sympathetic to let you go off alone._"

"... Really?" Italy said quietly, comtemplating that thought. Could it be true? Germany... well, he'd never really accepted his friendship posters. Even though he had taken Italy in... Maybe he was just a bother to Germany after all. And as for Liechtenstein... no, he couldn't think that.

"_Really. Why would I lie to you?_" The boy kneeled down in front of him, caressing his face. Italy flinched and scrambled backwards, remaining silent.

The boy kept pushing on. "_And your Liechtenstein? Haven't you ever thought about the fact that she'd be better off hanging with someone else?_"

Italy's face dropped. His eyes bored at the ground. He wasn't... good enough for Liechtenstein? "But... Liechtenstein likes spending time with me, too. She... she said so." He said slowly, trying to reason although he knew it was starting to become hopeless. Was that boy telling the truth? And now that he thought about it... had Lilli ever really said that she liked spending time with him?

"_Are you sure she said that? Are you sure that it's just not in your head?_" The boy sneered at him, his blood red eyes narrowing smugly.

Italy thought hard. His stomach sank when he found that although Lilli had hugged him, held his hand, comforted him, she'd never said anything outright. So maybe it had been pity after all. She... she'd never really liked him. All the times that he had thought that maybe Liechtenstein actually liked him, even as more than just a good friend, he had been wrong. He really was just a useless, weak nation that no one could love, only pity. His lips trembled, but he bit down on them angrily. He had to at least be brave in front of that little boy. Italy rolled over and managed to climb onto his feet when the boy wasn't looking, and was steadying himself on the broken shards of window glass when the boy turned to look at him. A smirk formed.

"_Trying to run, eh? No, not yet._" The little boy reached out a hand and easily pushed him down on top of the broken glass. He landed clumsily on his butt, his hands splayed out to break the fall. A shard cut deep into the back of his hand, creating a long, jagged red mark. Italy quickly jerked up his hand and brought it shakily to his face. Blood was quickly springing out, and he was starting to feel a little churning in his stomach. Grinning smugly, the boy kicked Italy's side until he had rolled over to the bottom of the pile. Italy gave a yelp and clutched at his side, giving another shard of glass the chance to cut deep into his hands and run a long line down his cheek as well as scratch his forehead.

Petrified, he opened his eyes and his hand flew to his face, trailing down the side of his cheek. He felt wet, warm blood covering his fingers and slowly staining into his blue uniform.

"_I think I've found your weakness._" The boy had turned into a mass of black shadows and was now towering over him. Feliciano couldn't see anything but a horrifying blackness. "_Liechtenstein? She'd be much better off with America or China. America's strong and he would be willing to risk his life to save Liechtenstein. China's wise and he'd do everything in his power to protect her. And what can you do? You're just a burden to her, and to everyone else._"

Italy squeezed his eyes shut. No, he wouldn't believe those words. They were lies. Liechtenstein was at least his friend, right? And, and...

The weak attempt of defense that he'd tried to put up was quickly slipping away. He felt... like nothing. He didn't mean anything to Liechtenstein, and now he knew it. The tears slipped out of his tightly shut eyelids, streaking his cheeks and stinging the open wound that ran down the side of his face. "Go away, please!" He tried to scream, but the words were choked in his throat. "Please, help me! Someone help!"

"_No one's here to help you this time._"

The mass of shadows trailed over him and vanished into thin air. Feliciano clutched his sides, a bloody mess, and sobbed.

* * *

_She huddled in the enclosed space with him, pressing the dark blue handkerchief to his bleeding forehead. The wound had started running again, and blood quickly seeped through. He sat quietly in front of her, avoiding her eyes and trying hard to remain silent with all the questions he held for her. He couldn't talk, because if he did, he'd surely break into pieces. Like he hadn't already._

_She pressed the bloodstained handkerchief to his head. He cringed away from her._

_"Why do you do this?" He asked her, his voice breaking._

_"... Do what?" Her voice was still so sweet, so innocent, that for a moment there he believed that she really didn't know what she was doing to him. But then his mind flew back to what the little boy had told him, and he bit down on his lips to stop from breaking into sobs like he usually would with Germany._

_"Make me feel like you care. When you don't, ve." _

_She looked up to at him, and something strange passed in her green eyes. He tried not to dwell on it. Suddenly, she reached up her hands and wiped at the tears strolling down his cheeks. He let her. Maybe he was trying to hold on the thought that she really did care, instead of just helping out of pity or even manipulating him._

_She didn't say a word as she slowly removed the handkerchief and took out a bottle of antioxidant and wet a cotton ball, pressing it to his head._

_"How come you think I don't really care?" She finally asked him, not meeting his eyes. Her voice cracked, and he noticed that she might really be crying. Because of him. He hated it when she cried. He hated the fact that he was so tied to her and just couldn't let go. But he had too. He couldn't let his hopes take over. And it was better for her, too, right? She'd be better with America and China and Iceland and Japan and all those other nations. _

_"I'm just a weak, useless nation." He told her, trying to make the pain go away. "And you're so different. You have everyone else; why me?" He hated the words, yet they tumbled out on their own will. _

_"I'm your friend." She insisted._

_"Why?"_

_"I made a promise to you. I hate breaking promises, especially my own." _

_There was a silence and he stiffened behind the bandages she was wrapping around his head. So it was just a promise then. He didn't mean anything to her, only a promise that she was too nice to break. That little boy hadn't been lying to him, then. "Well then I release you from your promise. You're free to go." He closed his eyes, half hoping that she'll say something to make him believe that she really won't leave. The silence was overwhelming, and he could see her green eyes sparkling with tears. Did he really mean that much to her, or was she just pretending? He didn't want her to go, no. She was the only one that had made him feel like he wasn't just a weak, useless nation but someone really worth loving. But what if it was just a facade? Or worse still, what if he was letting his imagination run wild in his delirium? What if she'd never cared, and he'd just hoped for it so badly that he was going crazy?_

_"I release you from your promise." He repeated quietly. "Please, go." He hated how weak he sounded there, in front of her. But it wouldn't matter anyways. In seconds she'd be gone from him, and she'd go running to her precious brother and her friends. Why would a girl like her need someone like him? _

_"... But what if I don't want to?" She breathed, so quietly that he could barely hear her. "What if I want to stay with you?" _

_He stopped dead, searching her with his eyes. Did she really mean it? _

_"If you really want me to go that badly..." She sounded heartbroken, her sweet soprano voice so quiet that he could barely hear through his raspy breaths. And no, he didn't want her to go at all. But he couldn't say the words to keep her from leaving._

_"... then I'll go." She finally said. "I'm sorry that I caused you trouble. I'll... I'll call someone else in to help you. But before I leave..." She lingered back, her hands dropping down by her side, her eyes on the ground. He wanted to hug her, just like he would, before he knew of all this. _

"_Be safe. Ich liebe dich." He watched as she bowed her head and disappeared behind the door. Surprised and confused, he parted his lips to call her back, but the door slammed shut before he could get the words out of his mouth._

* * *

Italy woke up gasping and choking. He found that the blood from the wounds had dried up, but he was feeling strangely lightheaded and upset. And then it all came back to him. But what he was trying to remember was that dream. He remembered Lilli, but other than that...

"Italy!" Italy jerked up as he heard a familiar voice call his name. Could it just be his imagination?

"Italy!" Germany? It couldn't be. Suddenly, strong arms scooped him up from the ruins of France's home. "Mein gott. Mein gott, Italien. Come on, Italien. Wir gehen nach Hause. We're going home."

Italy dared to crack his eyes open and peek at his rescuer. It was Germany! Germany had come to save him! Drained of strength from his loss of blood and his last moments with the malevolent little boy, he could only manage to wrap his arms around Germany and let him carry him away.

Italy instantly fell asleep once he had gotten a brief view of the helicopter that he was brought to. He woke up to the sinking realization that everything that the boy had said was real, and he hadn't been dreaming, and...

"I'm so relieved that we found Italy. I know that Liechtenstein has been worrying her head off." He heard Hungary say. After shifting slightly, he found that he was leaning against Germany, and Hungary was sitting on Germany's other side. They must have thought that he was still sleeping.

"What was Italy doing there right next to the ruins? He couldn't have found a worse place to fall asleep at. And look at these wounds." Germany lifted his hand.

"I'm guessing that the Darkness probably got to him. I think... that's what it does. It manipulates nations into turning against their own friends so that the Light between us will eventually disappear. And Italy was its first target, what with him being so innocent." Hungary reached for his hand. "We'll have to get him patched up."

"You're right. Mein gott. I'm just glad that we found him." Germany said, patting his hair awkwardly.

"Many people back at the headquarters are missing him. Including Romano and Liechtenstein, and even Prussia, too."

Really? Other nations... missed him? And what was that Darkness? And Liechtenstein... Liechtenstein was okay? And she was worried about him?

There was a soft nudge on his shoulder. "Wake up, Italien. We're here. You're safe now." Germany told him gently.

"Don't waste your words. He's tired. So carry him." Hungary gave a slight chuckle and walked past the two of them. "I have to report back to Vash and the others."

Italy was about to open his eyes and feign sleepiness when Germany hoisted him over his shoulders. "Ah, I guess we'll have to do it this way." He mumbled, and began to walk toward a big building. Italy hung limply from Germany's shoulders, but his eyes were open wide. Was everyone inside there?

"Italien. You're home." There was a gust of wind, and he knew that he was now inside the building. Unable to keep in his curiosity, he struggled in Germany's grip.

"Oh, Italy. You're awake." Germany set him on the ground, and he detected a dark flush on his face, but he didn't mention it. He was too focused on everything else. Where was he? And... what was happening?

"Germany, ve, I-"

"Italy!"

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**Once again, thank you readers and reviewers, and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	21. Moments of peace

**Finally! It's the chapter you've all been waiting for! Personally I think it turned out pretty well, but since it's past midnight and I'm half asleep... I'm sure I've made a few mistakes in here, but I'll come back to revise it after a much needed sleep. So enjoy!**

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**XXI. Moments of peace**

"Italy!"

Liechtenstein whirled around, narrowly missing Prussia, who was holding an iced beer. She pushed through the crowd of people that had started to gather around the returning team and located the source of the name-caller. Romano was calling Italy, so that meant... He was back!

"Lilli, you should stay back. Italy looks bad. It'd be better if you waited until after he's all patched up." Switzerland appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto her arm. She turned back to look at her big brother, her expression of delight not fading.

"Big bruder, I don't mind what he looks like. I just want to see if he's really back, safe and sound." She tugged her arm away from Vash's grasp and ducked Cuba's fist, heading toward the direction of Germany and the nation he was supporting.

"Italy!" This time she yelled his name along with Romano. Finally, she had gotten to the front of the growing crowd. But now a circle of nations were ushering Italy and Germany away.

A hand landed on her shoulder. "Liechtenstein, he's being taken to the medical room. Someone will be there to fix his wounds. You'll be able to see him later." Switzerland managed a reassuring smile. Liechtenstein peered up at her big brother, but then nodded, pushing away the disappointment.

"Can you lead me there? I want to wait for him."

Switzerland grunted. Without a word, he took her hand and led her in the direction of the medical room. Leaving her outside with the excuse that he had to go find Canada, Switzerland quickly left. Liechtenstein looked after her big brother for a second, and then turned to the door.

After a few tries, she found that it was locked. Lilli gave a small sigh, and then plopped down on one of the chairs propped against the wall to wait.

Staring at the empty white wall in front of her, she thought back to the strange dream she had had the night before. She could barely remember anything, other than the fact that Italy had been in it, and she'd woken up with tears prickling in her eyes.

_She pressed the bloodstained handkerchief to his head. He cringed away from her._

_"Why do you do this?" _

_"... Do what?"_

_"Make me feel like you care. When you don't."_

Wait, what? Had that been a part of the dream?

A burst of memory suddenly came to her. Italy... imprisoned, and sounding so unlike the Italy she knew. He'd sounded so hopeless. Instantly, she wondered why she had dreamed it and if it was trying to tell her something. If the dream was true... who could have made Feliciano become like that?

Swinging her feet slightly, she pushed herself to remember the rest of the dream. Now that she was really thinking about it... it must have been the Darkness. And that must have been the reason why he was missing.

But there was also sosmething else about the dream. Something had happened at the end, right before she woke up, but she couldn't remember what. She just remembered the strange feeling when she woke up, like everything inside her was falling apart. Like... without Italy, she wouldn't be able to be happy anymore.

It was such a strange feeling Liechtenstein felt, and she couldn't quite remember when she had started to feel so attached to Feliciano. Was it when she had seen his carefree personality? His concern toward everyone? Was it his smile? His eyes?

No, she thought. She hadn't felt much for him in the beginning, just normal friendship. But it was everything that they had gone through together that brought her closer to him. And what she felt for Italy... it was different from what she felt for China and for America. But she didn't kniw the reason why, or what that feeling was, anyways. She just felt like she wanted to keep Feliciano all to herself, and always be there by his side? Was that a normal thing to feel?

"Liechtenstein, aru!"

Liechtenstein jerked up from her little daydream as China and Canada walked toward her.

"Hello, Liechtenstein." The blonde nation smiled at her shyly, pushing up his glasses, a gesture that reminded her briefly of America. She wondered how he was doing.

"Hey there Canada. Hi China!" Liechtenstein managed a small smile. She noticed both Canada and China glancing at her with worried expressions, so then she tried a reassuring smile. She knew it didn't fool either of them, but she couldn't make herself be a little more optimistic. She wouldn't be able to be cheerful until she saw Italy.

"I'm sorry Liechtenstein. I'd love to stay and chat, but I was on my way to find Switzerland." Canada gave her an apologetic look, waved to China, and rushed off. China nodded to his friend and then came to sit by Liechtenstein.

"You're worried about Italy, aru?" He looked at her knowingly.

Liechtenstein hesitated, but then nodded, staring at her hands.

"Wanna come up to my room for a while to wait? We can talk better up there." China stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and let him lead her up to his room.

China sat her down at the table and proceeded to making tea. Liechtenstein watched as China poured a cup for her and then sat down opposite of her. There was a long silence, as neither knew what to say. Liechtenstein almost regretted coming up to China's place as she sipped on the hot tea uncomfortably.

"Liechtenstein." China suddenly said, and Lilli looked up at him. His calm mask had slipped away, letting her see a China with pained amber eyes, and she was instantly alarmed.

"China, what's wrong?" She reached across the table and grasped his hand worriedly. "Please tell me."

China looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I'm sorry Liechtenstein. That day back when you were visiting China and I took you to that temple and you fainted... you'd met the Darkness, right? And all that time... I didn't know." He breathed out unevenly. "What did it do to you, aru?" He demanded angrily (although his tone was still gentle). Liechtenstein had never seen China so upset.

"I- It's okay." She withdrew her hands and wrapped them around the teacup. "The Darkness showed me a... a vision, sort of, of what would happen. Everyone was... defeated. They had all d-died. I tried to help you, and Switzerland, and America, and Italy, but my hands went through your body." She paused, flinching at the terrible memories. "It was like... I was too helpless to do anything."

"I could have done something to help you, but I didn't."

"It's okay China. You didn't know." She told him quietly. Slowly, she felt China relax as her fingers grazed his. "It's all fine now."

Another silence descended over them, although this one was short-lived. "Hey, Liechtenstein, aru. America's your friend, right?" China asked slowly. Lilli glanced up, surprised, but nodded anyway.

"But you don't love him in that way." He continued, and this time she blushed slightly, remembering that night on China's roof, and then dancing with America.

"I don't." She said. Alfred was a close friend, just like Yao, but she didn't love him.

"What about Italy?" China suddenly asked, looking directly into her eyes.

Liechtenstein held his eyes for half a second, and then had to avert her gaze. A dark blush rushed up her cheeks. "Feliciano's my friend." She told China, and she told the same thing to herself. She didn't love Italy... or did she?

"I know he's your friend, aru, but..." China seemed as uncomfortable as her. "But do you love him?"

Did she... love Italy? What she felt... that couldn't be love. Not yet, anyway.

Blushing, she told China truthfully, "I don't know."

China seemed a bit hurt for a second, but then he returned to normal again. "But you do feel something special for him. More than what you feel for me... and America."

"I... I guess I do." She admitted. Liechtenstein briefly wondered if she was as red as one of Romano's tomatoes. Love wasn't a subject that she had ever touched on.

China watched her with his knowing look. "You know, you'd better tell him before it's too late." He said softly. "With the Darkness around, you never know what's gonna happen. And I know that Italy loves you."

Once more, Liechtenstein turned red. "Italy doesn't love me." She protested. "If he did love someone, that would be Germany." She propped up her chin in her palms. "And if I do tell him anything, it's just gonna ruin our friendship. And it won't be able to help our problems now." She fixed her emerald eyes on him. "And I never said I loved Italy like that."

China looked past her out the window, where nighttime was quickly dawning. "You don't have to say it. I know." He said quietly.

Liechtenstein watched him with an expression of curiosity and embarrasment. She was about to protest once more, when she realized that it would be no use. Pushing back her chair, she excused herself.

"I'm gonna go check on Italy now." She told China.

"There's gonna be dinner in the cafe down there, if you want to go." He said, getting the door for her, and then giving her a small hug. "Good luck, aru." He smiled.

Liechtenstein nodded silently, shrugging out from his embrace, and headed toward the elevator. She spent her walk toward the medical room pondering over what she'd say to Italy when she arrived.

By the time she was standing in front of the door, she was already blushing furiously. Luckily, it was Belgium she saw standing inside the room and not Italy.

"Oh, hey Liechtenstein. If you were looking for Italy, he's gone up to his room." Belgium gave her the room number, and then looked at her closely. "Hey, you look a bit red. Are you getting a fever?"

"Oh, I'm alright." She gave a nervous giggle, and then rushed out of the room. "I'll see you later, Belgium. Thanks!"

A second later, she was standing in front of Italy's door. Seeing that it was open, she knocked a few times and then let herself in. Italy was sitting on the sofa with a plate of pasta in his lap, and when he saw her, his face instantly lit up.

"Liechtenstein!" He yelled, waving her over. Lilli came to sit next to him and examined his injuries, temporarily pushing away all that she'd been planning to say. This was more important.

Her fingers traced the bandaged right side of his face, his stitched up forehead, and she took his scarred hand in his, pushing the plate of pasta to the side. "The Darkness hurt you." She said accusingly. "I'll make sure to never let that happen again. Are you feeling alright?"

Italy nodded, laughing. "I'm okay now, ve." He grabbed the plate of pasta and offered it to her. "Have you had dinner?"

She shook her head, but pushed it back to him. "I'm not that hungry, thanks. You eat it. It'll help you recover faster."

Italy cocked his head to the side slightly. "Nonsense, ve. Open up!" He said cheerily, and shoved the pasta-covered fork into her mouth. They devoured the whole plate in just a few minutes.

Liechtenstein set the clean plate on the table, and then hugged Feli tightly. "I missed you so much. I was scared that I'd... lose you to the Darkness."

Italy squeezed her gently, but then quickly pulled back. Liechtenstein watched as he stared down at the ground, and then at the ceiling, anywhere but away from her.

"H-hey Italy, what's the matter?"

Feliciano gave a sigh. "The Darkness told me that you weren't my friend. And then I had that dream, and now I'm so confused, ve." He told her outright.

"I'm always gonna be your friend, Feli, and..." Suddenly, Liechtenstein felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Her heart started to quicken."What dream are you talking about?"

"Well, I had this dream right before Germany came, ve. You were helping me, and I was imprisoned of some sort. And I was feeling really hurt, because I'd been told that you were just manipulating me, but then you helped me." He took a shaky breath. "And then I told you to go away, because I didn't want to have to face you, ve. It hurt, right here." Italy placed a bandaged hand over his chest.

"And then in the end, I walked out." Liechtenstein's green eyes were wide in amazement as she finished the dream. "I had the same dream as you!"

Italy gaped at her. "That's really cool, ve. Maybe it means something. But I know you're my friend now, so it must be something else." He scrunched up his face. "There was something you said at the end, but I can't quite remember, ve."

Liechtenstein was also trying to think back to what had happened, and then she suddenly remembered. A rush of blood went to her cheeks. "Hey, Italy. I-I've got to get back now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She clumsily got up and was about to head to the door, when she felt the bandages on Italy's hand brush against hers.

Liechtenstein turned back to see Feliciano peering up at her with wide eyes. "Liechtenstein, would you please stay with me tonight? I know it's a lot to ask, but... I'm staying in this room alone, and it's kinda scary, ve."

Lilli hesitated, "I- I don't know if I can, I mean-"

"Please stay with me, ve! I don't know if I can survive the night without you." Italy was starting to panic. "Ever since the Darkness told me that you weren't my friend and you didn't love me, I was scared that you'd go away like you are now. Please don't leave! Stay with me, just for tonight, please?"

Liechtenstein's eyes widened, and she griped his hand tightly. "I- I'll stay with you then." She finally told him, and he let out a big cheer.

They sat on the sofa for a long time, watching some football game that Liechtenstein didn't particularly pay attention to. She was wondering about what was supposed to happen next. Where was she supposed to sleep? Would Switzerland be mad? And... did she really l-

"Liechtenstein?" Italy tugged on her hand slightly, and she turned to look at him, wincing once more as she caught sight of his bandaged cheek. She'd make sure to never let the Darkness get close to Italy again.

"Yes?"

"Liechtenstein, did..." Lilli watched as Italy took a deep breath. "D- Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" She asked, confused.

"What you said in the dream. 'Ich liebe dich'"

Liechtenstein suddenly panicked, her heart setting off at top speed. That was what she had said to him in the dream, wasn't it? But why? Why did it have to come up now?

"Liechtenstein, it's okay." Italy said softly, putting a hand on top of her trembling ones. "Just answer my question, please. I really want to know."

"I..." _"You should tell him before it's too late."_ China's words rang in her head. Should she really tell him? And did she really love him like that?

Liechtenstein didn't have time to think, as Italy suddenly seemed closer. His shining amber eyes looked straight at her, and the uninjured hand caressed her face. Only, she didn't feel scared like she would have if this was any other person. Instead... Liechtenstein bravely swallowed the lump in her throat and leaned forward, pressing her lips to Italy's gently. She could feel the blood pulsing in her veins and her hands shaking against his, but she pushed on. Through her lidded eyes, she could see Italy's eyes widen, and then close softly.

Lilli pulled back after a moment, short breaths coming out through her lips. "Yes, Italy, yes. I meant it."

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**Will this peaceful moment last? Or will the Darkness interfere? Find out in the next chapter or Darkness and Light. (OwO, again with the sucky commercial voice)  
I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please give me some feedback. Was it too little? Too much? Anything is greatly appreciated, thanks.**


	22. Vash

**It's past midnight and I'm oh so tired... I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I love you readers and reviewers, I'm insanely greatful for all the new readers I've gained, and... (zzzz... zzzz)**

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**XXII. Vash**

So she loved him, Lilli thought, after waking up from a short night of sleep.

She knew that when the next morning arrived, things would be so complicated. And awkward, too. But right then, at that time between night and morning, she was content. It felt strange, like there was a bunch of pink bunnies floating in her mind. And she felt... happy. Tightening her grip around Feli, Liechtenstein relaxed into the cuddly hold of the still asleep Italian. Feliciano shifted slightly, mumbling something, and smiled in his sleep.

Liechtenstein inhaled the scent of tomato sauce mixed with daisies that was Italy, wondering how she had come to be like this. Months ago, she wouldn't have ever imagined that something like this would happen. And why? Why was it Italy, of all people?

Sure, she loved his smile, his eyes, his energy, his innocence, his sweet personality. But if there was another nation somewhere who looked exactly like him and had the exact same personality, she still wouldn't love him. She loved Italy, and Italy only. It had to be because of everything they had gone through together. With another person, it just wouldn't feel the same.

Sighing contentedly, she snuggled into Feliciano's warm embrace. It was just like with Vash, but better, if that was possible. And slowly, to the rhythm of his calm breathing, Liechtenstein began to doze off.

* * *

"Liechtenstein!"

_What..._

"Liechtenstein! Are you in there?"

Lilli leaped up in alarm, knocking against Italy so that he also jumped to his feet, eyes wide open. Frantically fixing her dress and pushing her blonde strands into place, she scrambled to open the door. A distressed Switzerland stood outside.

When she peered up and greeted her big brother, he sent her a stern look, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." Switzerland turned to the side to avoid her eyes, a link pink dusting his cheeks. "You made me so worried." He mumbled.

Liechtenstein giggled in relief. "I've been right here, brother. Italy was injured, so I came to take care of him."

"It's good that I thought to ask Belgium where you were, then. Otherwise, I'd never have thought to look here." Vash gave a massive sigh.

Liechtenstein caught the distracted look in his eyes. "Bruder, why were you looking for me?"

Switzerland removed his gaze from hers and looked to the left, and then to the right. "To say good bye." He murmured.

"Say good bye?" Liechtenstein's green eyes widened, and she reached out for her brother's hand. "Where are you going?"

Suddenly, Italy popped up behind her. "You're leaving us here in this big big building alone?"

Switzerland made a face, and then tugged his hand away from Liechtenstein's. "I'm just going out with a few other nations today to find out more about the Darkness. Don't worry, Liechtenstein. I'll be back."

Suddenly, a dark thought struck her. "Big bruder, please don't underestimate the Darkness. It's crueler than you make it out to be." Instead of grabbing on to her brother's hand, she clutched Feli's instead, ignoring Switzerland's disapproving stare. "What if... you don't come back?"

Vash fumed at the ground. "I will be back." He told her, and turned around to leave. "Good bye, Liechtenstein."

Lilli looked after her big brother for a brief second, and then burst out of the doorway to chase after him. "Big bruder! W-Wait! Can I come with you?" She yelled after him.

Vash stopped dead right in the middle of the hallway, and she crashed into his back. Luckily, he was strong enough to keep the both of them standing. "Where did you get such an idea?" He scolded. "You can't come with me. If anything happens, you'll get killed too."

That was what she'd been hoping for, actually. Switzerland, her big brother, was her world. If he perished somehow... she wanted to be there. And as for Italy and her friends... if anything happened, she'd miss them, but at that moment, she was only thinking of her brother.

"You'll save me if anything happens to me. And I'll save you." She said quietly, looking down to the ground. He had to agree. Such a simutaneous idea suddenly seemed so right.

"You seem so confident about that." Switzerland said, heaving a sigh. "I'm not as strong as you think I am, Liechtenstein. And if anything were to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." He ruffled her hair awkwardly and turned to walk away.

"Wait! Big bruder! Please!" Liechtenstein chased after him persistantly. "If you feel that way about me, how can you think that I don't feel the same? Where would I be if you were gone?" Her breaths came out in short puffs. She had to come along with him, she just had to.

Somewhere behind her, Italy shouted her name.

"You can't, Liechtenstein. That is final." Switzerland stepped into the elevator and disappeared behind its closing doors.

Liechtenstein stared at the flashing buttons numbly. But when Italy arrived by her side, she suddenly clutched his wrist. "Wait for me, ok? I've got an idea."

Feliciano stared into the determination in her eyes and nodded slowly. "Ve! But... stay safe, Liechtenstein."

"Ja!" She pressed the down button impatiently, and when the doors before her opened, she stepped inside and waved to Italy.

* * *

Arriving on the (hopefully) correct floor, she rushed out and flew to the surveillance room, shoving the door open.

"Mr. Austria!" She stared at the man in front of her in surprise.

Austria stared back. "Liechtenstein! What are you doing here?"

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry. I just wanted to know when the team is leaving. You know, the one that my brother's going on." She glanced slightly past him at the list of name typed on the screen. _Turkey, Belarus, Switzerland, Canada, China._

Wait... China?

"They'll be leaving in 10 minutes." Austria gave her a slight frown. "Why? I thought you've said your good byes already." He got into a chair and started typing something.

"I have... But I was wondering whether you'd let me join the team." Liechtenstein spoke to Austria's back. "I can help." She added in a small voice.

Austria swiveled around in his chair. "What? That's utterly absurd." He gave her a stare like she was crazy.

"I really do need to come along, Mr. Austria." She tried again. "I just-"

"Now, now, Liechtenstein. You can't possibly want to come along on a mission where there's a big possibility that you may meet your death." Austria seemed to dismiss the matter and turned back around in his chair. "Now, please excuse me, but I need to-"

Liechtenstein took a deep breath and walked up next to Austria. She was going to make a complete fool of herself, and she wondered if it would even work on Austria. Maybe Hungary, but Austria...

First, she settled for a childish pout. She hated acting that way, but in that particular situation, she had to make do. And she'd already wasted a few minutes.

"Please, Mr. Austria." She pleaded, perfecting the puppy dog look. Austria didn't budge.

"I'm pretty sure that your brother wouldn't approve of this. I can not send you to that death place against his wishes, and against mine, too." Austria looked away from the screen for a brief second, his serious gaze locking with Liechtenstein's. "What reason do you have for wanting to go so badly? I really do not think you should go. The Darkness is very dangerous, and we could very well lose some people out there."

Liechtenstein stared blankly at him for a second, trying to maintain her child-like look, but then the mask faded away. She looked up at Austria with pure determination in her eyes. "I know that my big brother can very well die out there, a- and-" Her hands shook by her side. "That's why I want to come along. I- If he dies, then I shall, too." She told Austria, swallowing hard. She had to be there because she didn't want to feel that heart wrenching feeling again. The feeling like someone she loved was going to die. The feeling that she had felt when Italy had gone missing.

Why couldn't Austria understand?

"Liechtenstein..." She knew he was surprised at her sudden outburst. Hadn't she always been the passive kind of the girl who never argued against orders? But this time, it was different. Her brother's life was in danger, now. She couldn't just be cooped up, all safe and sound, waiting for him to die.

"Liechtenstein, you can not go. Your brother wouldn't want you out there on the battlefield, nor does he want to see you sacrificing your life for his." He kneeled down in front of her and grasped her arms, and expression of sympathy.

Somewhere along the act, Liechtenstein had started sobbing so hard that her whole body was shaking. She couldn't let Switzerland go alone, no, never! "What if Hungary was out there? Wouldn't you give up your life just to make sure she was protected? Why do you think I'm any different?" She wrenched her arms away from his, her usual gentle face flushed red and streaked with angry tears. Pulling herself away from Austria, she ran back to her room, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands furiously.

"Liechtenstein!" Italy greeted her at the doorway. At the scrawny sight of her, he instantly pulled her inside and shut the door. "Liechtenstein! Are you okay, ve?" He reached out his arms and pulled her in, stroking her hair. "Shh. It's okay. Just calm down and tell me what happened, ve."

Liechtenstein sobbed into Italy's chest, and hated that she was getting his shirt all dirty, although she could care less about that at the moment. Or maybe she just hated herself. When her sobs eased a bit, she pulled away from him and sank down on the floor against the wall. She was aware of Italy coming to stand next to her, but she was too bitter to pull him down to her level like she usually would.

"They're not letting me go." She told him, worry and bitterness stabbing at her voice. "What if Switzerland dies out there and I'm not there to help him?" Her voice trailed off. "What if he was gone and I'm left all alone to watch my dear big brother... die?"

Liechtenstein felt Italy sliding down next to her, but her eyes were blurry, unfocused, and she didn't take as much notice as she usually would. "What if that horrible thing kills Switzerland, or maybe just leaves him out there in the open with terrible hallucinations, and open to predators all around? Just like..." This time, she turned to look at Italy, and her pain was reflected off his open brown eyes. "Just like how it happened to you."

Italy pulled her into another hug, and once more she crief, clutching at his shirt so tightly that her fingernails dug into her own skin. She knew she was helpless now, and he'd already left. She was unable to do anything, unless she wanted to fish out her own helicopter, learn to operate it, and do some miracle work.

"Liechtenstein, it's going to be okay. Switzerland will be fine, ve, and he will return to you." She managed a small smile for him. "And even if something goes wrong... I'll come with you to fix it."

Liechtenstein dared to look up, just a little, to find that small piece of hope in Italy's beautiful amber eyes.

"It'll be alright, you'll see."

Liechtenstein nodded like a little child, and threw her arms around Italy. She muted her sobs in his shoulder, holding on to the little spark of hope. But really, she knew, hope couldn't beat the Darkness.


	23. Let fate decide

**To my beloved readers: Here's chapter 23 for you!  
Warning: This one jumps from different POVs.**

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**XXIII. Let fate decide**

From morning till night, Liechtenstein heard announcements of some more teams going out to explore. The teams consisted off Netherlands, Denmark, South Korea, Monaco, Prussia, Hungary, Germany, and many more, so that there were only a few nations left back at the headquarters. Only one day had passed, and half the nations in the world were out searching for the Darkness. And Liechtenstein was still cooped up back at the HQ, always being looked after.

"You're worried about Switzerland." Belgium stated, glancing at Liechtenstein from across the room.

She didn't answer, but simply nodded, her green eyes furiously tracing the patterns on the bedspread.

"You can talk to me about it, you know. It wouldn't be good to keep everything locked inside." Belgium got down from her bed and took a long stride toward Liechtenstein, plopping down at the end of Lilli's bed.

She shook her head gently, short blonde strands fluttering back and forth. "I'm ok. Thanks, Miss Belgium."

Belgium laughed softly. "Hey, drop the formality." After taking a deep breath, her eyes grew serious. "Liechtenstein, don't worry. Vash will do everything in his power to keep you safe. And all the others will, too."

Liechtenstein leaned back against the headrest, closing her eyes. "I'm not worried for myself, M- Belgium. What if my bruder doesn't come back?" She said quietly, her voice barely audible.

"Belgium scooted over to sit beside Liechtenstein. She began stroking her hair gently. "You are such a selfless nation." She said slowly. "And I know how much you love your big brother. But the only thing you can do now is have faith in him. And you have to face the fact that... he may not come back." Belgium's eyes softened. "And my brother is out there, too."

Liechtenstein bit her lip, nodding slightly. "I see what you mean." She said, but a plan was starting to form in her mind. She'd have to find Italy, and even America, too. But... would it be wise? "I wanted to come with Switzerland, but I couldn't." She said to Belgium.

"Switzerland wouldn't want you there. He'd want you to be back here, at the headquarters, safely protected." Belgium put a hand on her shoulder gently, oblivious to the fact that Liechtenstein wasn't much younger than she herself.

"But I want him to be safe. I want to repay him for all that he's done for me, and... I love my big bruder, with everything I have, a- and-"

Belgium's big green eyes looked down at her. "I know. I don't want Netherlands, or any of my friends, involved in this, most of all Hungary. But it's just what we have to do. And soon, we'll be sent out there too. And we'll defeat the Darkness, I know we will."

"We can't be sure about that." She sighed, fiddling with her violet ribbon. Everyone was underestimating the Darkness. They didn't know the extent of its powers, and not one of them knew what she had gone through with the Darkness. Except for China. And China... Lilli pushed away the horrible thoughts.

"What if the Darkness destroys us all? Darkness is a very strong force, ja." Liechtenstein clasped her hands together, her voice small with fear.

Belgium shook her head sadly, and patted Liechtenstein's shoulder before getting up to return to her own bed. "I don't know Liech." She reached over to turn off the light. "One day at a time, Lilli. Good night, now. Get some sleep. You deserve it."

Nodding in the darkness, Liechtenstein slipped down into the warm covers of her bed and buried her face into her pillow. She squeezed her eyes shut.

After staying wide awake for an hour or two, Liechtenstein realized that she really missed her big brother's awkward good night kisses. And she was unable to sleep at all. After spending five minutes or so staring at the ceiling, she silently got out of bed, and checked to see if Belgium was still sleeping. When she was satisfied that Belgium was deeply asleep, Liechtenstein scrawled a messy note to her about where she was going, and slipped out of the room.

She soon arrived at Italy's door. Lilli raised a hand to knock, but then she wondered whether she should or not. Feliciano was most likely asleep, and she'd be disturbing him if she came in. And anyway, she had no reason to be there. Liechtenstein was about to turn back, when she finally decided that she couldn't bear the sleepless night. She could find America, too, but she just wanted to see Italy now. She had to see if he was alright, and after all... he was alone, and no one would know if he was okay in there or not. She'd just... come and see him for a few minutes.

As Liechtenstein put a hand out to knock, her fingers pushed the door slightly open. So it hadn't been locked, or even closed tightly. Lilli stepped tentatively into the dark room.

A trail of light came from the moon outside of the window, and Liechtenstein could see Italy sitting on the couch, his head drooped to the side. She wandered a bit closer, and saw that he was clutching a fork in his hand. A plate of pasta lay half-eaten on the table in front of him. Giggling quietly, Liechtenstein got down on her knees and gently eased the fork out of his hand. Surprisingly, he was holding onto it quiet tightly. She watched his calm face and the slight fluttering of his eyelashes, wondering if he was dreaming. Her hand reached out to push a stray mass of hair back into place, but then she thought better of it and pulled back.

After setting the fork back into the plate, Lilli decided to head back to her room, or maybe go find America. She didn't want to wake Italy, seeing as he was sleeping so contentedly. Halfway out the door, she heard a slightly shuffling in the room.

"Liechtenstein?" Italy's cheery, but groggy voice called out to her. Liechtenstein quickly turned to him, spewing out apologies.

"I'm sorry Italy! I just came to see if you were awake, and you were holding a fork in your hand, so I took it away. And I'm just leaving now. Sorry if I disturbed you!" She waved furiously, and then scrambled for the door.

"Wait!" Italy jumped to his feet and suddenly a hand grabbed her thin wrist. Liechtenstein turned back, wide green eyes locking with Italy's half closed ones. "Stay here! It's okay, ve!"

Lilli pondered that thought, but she didn't resist as Feliciano dragged her back to the couch. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to get that fork away! You could stab yourself with it in your sleep, you know! And that would be really bad, ja." She rambled on, oblivious to the fact that Italy was laughing quietly.

"Ve! It's okay!" He hugged her tightly for a second, cutting off her rambling. "But what brought you here?"

Liechtenstein noticed that Italy's bandages were all gone. Well, nations did heal quickly. "Well I... I couldn't sleep." She told him.

"Oh, I get it! When I can't sleep, I usually go to Germany, but now I have you, ve! And Germany's gone, too, so that's not an option." Italy's cheerful voice quickly dropped to an upset tone.

Liechtenstein nodded. "Switzerland's gone, too."

Italy was about to say something, when Austria and Finland's voice came over the little intercoms in the hallway. "America, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. Please come to the surveillance HQ room."

When the intercom beeped off, there was a brief silence between Liechtenstein and Italy, but then Italy broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Liechtenstein, help! They're going to make me go out there just like Ludwig! And I don't want to have to face the Darkness, ve, ve! It's really scary!"

Liechtenstein wondered why her name hadn't been called. Almost everyone else had gone, and she was still being protected? Why was it so important to make sure she stayed back while everyone went to sacrifice their lives? "I'll come with you." She told Italy quietly, grabbing his hand.

They walked to the surveillance room in silence. When they arrived, Liechtenstein saw that the others had already gathered in the center of the room. Austria and Finland were giving instructions to everyone.

"Liechtenstein!" America grinned at her and waved, although his eyes didn't seem to be showing his spirit.

Belgium smiled at her, and so did Japan, although he also gave her a questioning look.

"Thank you for bringing Italy here." Austria nodded at her. "You may leave now."

Liechtenstein stood her ground, still clutching Italy's hand. She had no intentions of leaving. "Mr. Austria, forgive me for asking, but why are you sending out so many people?" She suddenly asked Austria, her voice rising. Even she was surprised with herself, but she just had to know. "If they were just looking around, there needn't be so many nations." She looked Austria straight in the eye, completely aware of the fact that everyone in the room was now staring at her. "And if you're just sending out nations, then why not me? Why do I have to stay back while my brother and my friends are all out there? I'm willing to go, so why not pick me?" Her determined green eyes bored into Austria's, although her head was slightly bowed.

A complete silence dawned over the room, but then Austria heaved a sigh. His gaze dropped to the ground. "You're right, Liechtenstein. I shouldn't be telling you this, but we've lost signal of all the teams that have been sent out. And so we keep sending out more and more to find those lost ones, but every single helicopter that's been out there had just disappeared." Austria looked up again, and his eyes were just a little too bright. "And as for you, Switzerland has told me that you're the Darkness's biggest target, and that you must be kept away from it. "And as for you, Switzerland has told me that you're the Darkness's biggest target, and that you must be kept away from it. Y-"

Finland finished his sentence. "You're our source of light, Liechtenstein. As long as you're safe, the Darkness can't take over."

_As long as you're safe, I can't take over this planet. But I am free to torture all those poor souls out there, including your brother's, your friend Hungary's, and your dear China's._

"No!" Liechtenstein yelled out. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand, as if too much had escaped. "I mean, no. I'm going to go out there, no matter what."

America nodded slightly, and Italy squeezed her hand. "She's stronger than she looks." Alfred informed Austria, although Liechtenstein wasn't sure if that was true. She just wanted to be out there, to know what had happened to everyone, and to do everything she could to help them. After all, the Darkness was looking for her.

Austria sighed once more. "I remember when you were younger, and you would always follow Switzerland's orders." He looked at her. "I guess that's changed." Liechtenstein narrowed her eyes. Would he let her go?

"... But no. It's too big a risk. So everyone, back to your rooms, but be back here at exactly 6:00 to fly out." Austria turned his back on them then, a dismissive air surrounding him. One by one, the nations exited the room, not sure exactly what kind of conversation they'd just witnessed. As he passed, Finland muttered a small 'sorry' to her. Liechtenstein stood in the room by herself, looking at Italy, who was beckoning her from outside of the door.

"Liechtenstein, you might as well leave." Austria told her, his voice sounding forced and tired. She noticed the trembling in it as well. Finally, exhausted from all the stubborn arguments, her shoulders drooped and she walked out.

"Liechtenstein... ve?" Italy asked, looking at her worriedly. Suddenly, a voice came from the side of the hallway.

"Hey, Liech! Come here! I've got a plan!" She turned to see America and Japan huddled in a dark corner, calling out to her. She rushed over with Italy, giving America an expectant look.

He grinned at her. "I know where they keep the helicopters."

* * *

Canada woke up with a pounding headache.

He stared around the walls of the empty room, trying to figure out where he was. He remembered the helicopter had crashed, had he'd blacked out. Now, he was slumped against the wall with a massive headache, and his glasses lay broken beside him. Kumajirou was gone.

It didn't take long before Canada discovered the pain in his right arm. He couldn't move it. It must have been hurt when they crashed. Ignoring the throbbing pain, Canada got to his feet shakily and hobbled toward the door. Except... there was no door.

"Help!" He yelled instead, pounding on the empty white walls. "Can anyone here me?"

"_I can hear you._" A voice told him.

"T- Then, c-can you get me out of here?" He looked around for the source of the voice, but didn't see anybody. A cold chill ran up his spine.

"_I am sorry. I can, but I don't want to. Of course, I can come and keep you company._" Suddenly, a large black mass appeared right in the middle of the room. Canada's violet eyes widened, and he pressed himself against the wall. His curl flopped to the side. "P-Please don't hurt me." He pleaded.

"_Oh, we can't be sure of that now, can we? But right now, I'm just going to give you a little talk._"

"A- A little talk?" Canada stuttered, half confused and bewildered, half glad that he wasn't going to get killed right away. And that black mass... it had to be the Darkness.

"_Oh yes, a little talk. You know, while you're in here talking with me, think of how Liechtenstein must be feeling back home._" The Darkness mused. "_She's probably worried sick about you, but she wouldn't be able to do anything. And while you're here, unable to protect her, I'll come to her instead._" Canada was sure that he could hear the smirk in the Darkness's hoarse voice.

"Liechtenstein?" Canada thought out loud. He'd known that the Darkness often liked to torture, and manipulate, but how was talking about Liechtenstein going to pain him?

"_Oh, yes, Liechtenstein. I'll come to her, and this time, you won't be able to be her hero, will you?_" There was a dark laugh. "_You know she doesn't love you, so why are you still chasing? Do you actually think you have a chance? You, the wannabe hero, against the grandson of the great Roman Empire?_"

Canada's eyebrows furried and he thought hard. Liechtenstein... wannabe hero... was the Darkness talking about his brother? Had yet another person mistaken him for America?

"_Liechtenstein doesn't love you, no. If she loved anyone, it'd be Veneziano or China. Not you. You don't stand a chance._" Suddenly, the Darkness went into a long silence, and the black mass siddled closer to Canada. "_You don't seem to be fazed by this at all..._" It started, and he could feel the wheels turning inside its brains (if Darkness had a brain). Suddenly, the black mass lunged at him.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Canada let out a scream and pushed through the thick, black being. Instantly, he felt like his limbs were frozen, and he couldn't move. For a moment, he panicked, thrashing around wildly, but then he tumbled out on the other side of the Darknes. Feeling heat enter his arms and legs once more, he leapt up and ran around the room, trying to avoid the Darkness as it came to him and pounded on the walls.

"Can anyone hear me? Help! Please, help!"

"_Calm down, little Canada. Our talk isn't over. We haven't even gotten to Seychelles yet."_

* * *

Switzerland stared at the Darkness before him, reaching for the gun he had strapped by his side. As soon as he raised it, it seemed to float out of his fingers, and disappeared into the black mass.

"_Hey now, no violence is needed here. I just wanted to have a talk with you._"

"Go away!" Vash glared at the Darkness, keeping his ground. He wouldn't fall in front of this beast and beg for mercy. He had to be brave.

The Darkness ignored him. _"I wonder how our favorite gun-man is doing. How's your dearest little sister?_"

Switzerland froze. He stared at the black mass for a second, and then exploded into a fit of rage. "What did you do to her? Tell me, what did you do to Lilli? Don't hurt her, unless you want me to hurt you!"

A chuckle. "_What can you do to me? Don't worry, our lovely Liechtenstein is fine. But you see, I want her here. She is the only Light left in your world. If I can succeed in turning her to Darkness, I can take over. And so I need her here. Where is she?_"

Vash crossed his arms, glaring indignently. "I'll never tell you." He spat, his angry green gaze locked on the beast.

"_So you want violence..._" Suddenly, Vash saw the black mass lumbering toward him. He stepped forward and struck at it, but his fist waved in the air. Instead, the Darkness had gotten behind him. He was jerked back; his head slammed into the wall, and he slid to the ground, unconscious. A thin trail of blood started flowing freely from the new wound in his head, staining his green uniform.

There was a sinister laugh, and then everything stilled.

* * *

"_She depises you._" The black mass told China. "_You told her too soon. She could have fallen for you, and she was falling, but now you've ended everything. She despises you._"

China griped his wok. "That's not true, aru!" Liechtenstein wouldn't hate him just for that little thing.

"_Oh, you don't believe me? Ask her yourself. But wait, she isn't here._" Its tone became sweet. "_Would you like me to bring your Liechtenstein here with you? Then you can ask her anything you want. Just one thing, where is she?_"

China remained silent. He decided that it was better not to talk. Unfortunately, he decided wrong.

"_Where is Liechtenstein?_" The Darkness roared at him.

"I thought you were superior. Couldn't you find her yourself, aru?" He asked nonchalantly, getting ready for the blow that never came. Instead, the Darkness just stared at him for a while, and then faded away.

"_You'll regret this._" It told him, and then was gone.

Without the Darkness's watchful eyes lurking in the room, China leaned against the wall, and then slid down to the ground. He threw the wok to the side, burried his face in his hands, and let exhaustion and desperation take over. He so badly wished that Liechtenstein was fine, wherever she was.

"We'll just let fate decide, aru." He whispered to himself.

"_Fate has decided. I _am _your fate. So stop running away from me, and tell me where she is._"

China hit his head against the wall. "Go away!" He cried out desperately. "Leave me alone! Leave us all alone!"

"_It's too late._" The eerie voice replied to him, and then disappeared altogether, leaving a broken and hurt China alone in the empty white room.


	24. The heroes are here

**Woo! This chapter is finally out! While writing this, I scared myself a bit... and so... hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing!  
Author's note at the end.**

* * *

**XXIV. The heroes are here**

Lilli hitched up her dress slightly with a breathless huff and grabbed onto the next rung of the ladder. "How long is this ladder, Alfred?" She asked America, who was leading their little group.

A chuckle was sent down to her. "Not much longer." America said, and Liechtenstein breathed a sigh of relief. They'd been climbing for at least 15 minutes now- no, much longer-.

"America, ve, why couldn't we have taken the shorter way?" Italy whined slightly. It was Japan that answered him.

"The entrance to the short way is inside the surveillance room, and I doubt we could get in there." Liechtenstein listened to the idle chatting as they climbed, shrugging away from the dusty walls of the narrow shaft.

"How did you find out about this?" She yelled up to America and Japan.

"Hey, dude, the hero knows everything!" America gave another chuckle. "We actually saw Austria and Hungary going up this way once. He was saying something about a precaution and stuff. And so we followed them up. They never noticed us."

"Don't mention me in there. I didn't follow them up, only you did." Japan quickly said, and Lilli laughed slightly.

"Hey, dude! Chill out! I just meant that- Hey! We're here!" America suddenly yelled, making Liechtenstein jump, startled.

"Ve, ve, really?" Italy said excitedly and soon he was out of her sight. Liechtenstein managed to get to the top step and heave herself out of the shaft, although not without some difficulty.

"Whoa! Where are we?" Feliciano asked, his brown eyes wide open. Liechtenstein pulled herself up to her full height and instantly, the sight before her made her dizzy with fright. There were three lone helicopters in front of her, and equipments were lying to the side. But the frightening thing was that the whole sky was black. Not just black like the nights in Liechtenstein or Switzerland, but the black carried a sense of instability in it.

"We're on the roof of the HQ. Right now, there's a panel thing up there to protect the roof." America pointed upwards, and Liechtenstein noticed that there was actually a clear layer of glass above her.

"Yes. And if you're actually considering going out in one of these helicopters..." Japan trailed off, his dark eyes setting on America. "You can't actually be wanting to do this, can you? We can just wait until tomorrow to go along with the rest of the nations."

"Ve! My fratello!" Italy suddenly yelled, and scampered off to one of the helicopters. Liechtenstein watched him in confusion, and then turned back to Japan and America.

"We need to go now. If we wait until tomorrow, Liechtenstein won't be able to come along." America declared.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous to let Liechtenstein come along? She will most likely go with Austria later." Japan cast a look at her. Liechtenstein was about to defend herself, when Japan spoke up again. "... And why would you want to bring Lilli to the battlefield? Didn't you say you l-"

"We- ell, as I was saying, we should get to a helicopter now and go before Austria and the rest find out. Also, I know how to operate it, because I saw what Austria was teaching Hungary, and..." America rambled on loudly, blushing hard, and started to walk toward the closest helicopter. Liechtenstein looked after him in confusion and Japan gave her a small, knowing smile before running after America.

"Liechtenstein!" Italy suddenly appeared in front of her with a scowling Romano by his side. "Say 'ciao' to my fratello!" He cheerfully told her.

"Romano! Guten tag!" She smiled at the older Italian, and Romano's scowl lightened up. Just a bit. "Why are you here?" She asked him.

"I found my big brother hiding behind that helicopter!" Italy reported to her, and Romano glared daggers at his brother.

"Romano?" Liechtenstein prompted, bringing the both of them back to reality.

Lovino avoided her eyes. "I just heard that the piano-playing mole bastard was making my fratello go out there, so I hid here. I was planning to come along. Not that I care for this idiota, of course, but because I wanted to."

Liechtenstein gave him a small smile. "Right." She said carefully, and turned to America and Japan. "Romano's coming along with us!" She announced.

"W-Wait, where you going?" Lovino ran behind her to catch up and she started walking toward the helicopter that America and Japan were fussing over. Liechtenstein turned back to Romano with a determined look in her eyes.

"We're going out there. Now." She sighed. "I'm not sure if it is such a good idea, but it's just something that I have to do. I can't stay behind forever."

"Ve! But it looks really scary out there, doesn't it?" Italy piped up from beside her. Lilli carefully took his hand.

"We'll be out there together." She told him with a smile.

"Hey, dudes! I got the helicopter to work!" America called, and Liechtenstein was instantly by his side, along with the Italian brothers.

"Hai! Come on in." Japan's voice came from somewhere inside the helicopter. Liechtenstein smiled at America in gratitude and ducked her head, climbing in the opening. She took to the seat right behind the pilot's spot, and Italy plopped down next to her. Apparently, Japan was going to be pilot, and America has taken the seat next to him. Romano fumed in a corner by himself.

Liechtenstein looked at Lovino in worry. "Is he okay?" She asked Feliciano, who nodded quickly.

"He's fine. My fratello's usually like that." Italy said, and then he gave a giant yawn. "Sorry! I haven't been sleeping well lately."

Liechtenstein giggled. "I haven't either. But maybe we could get some sleep on the ride. Speaking of which..."

Right on cue, America turned down to them. "Hey Liech! The helicopter's got some kind of GPS. We just have to follow the directions to get to where the Darkness is. Cool, right?"

Japan interrupted in his quiet voice. "Hai, but we have to be very careful. We don't know what we are facing, and like Austria said, the other helicopters have all gone missing."

"Oh come on!" America said. "You don't trust me? I can handle this. I'm the hero, after all!" And with that declaration, Alfred pushed a red button and the clear glass screen slowly slid back to let the helicopter take off. Within minutes, they were up in the air, tightly buckled in, and ready to face whatever was ahead.

"Feli?" She said quietly, turning to look at him. Italy tilted his head at her, curl bouncing along.

"What's wrong, ve?" He asked worriedly, putting a hand on her arm.

Lilli shook her head slightly. "I was just wondering... do you think it's bad to disobey big bruder's orders? He did say that I had to stay back, and Austria even explained that I was... the only Light." At that, she looked down. "How am I supposed to be the Light when I can't even listen to my brother? And what if right now, we're just heading right into the Darkness's trap?"

A thoughtful look passed over Italy's face. "I don't know how to explain it, ve, but... it's like you have a strange power radiating from you. It's your Light. No matter how others try to taint you, you'll always stay true to the ones you love the most. And... there's just something about you, ve. Maybe that was why Russia was so drawn to you."

Liechtenstein fumbled with her dress. "Russia just wanted to destroy me." She said.

"I don't really believe that, ve. Russia is really scary, but it doesn't mean he's bad. At least, not most of the time, anyway." Italy cocked his head to the side. "You know how Russia always wants other nations to become one with him? It's because he needs power to survive, I think. But he isn't ruthless and stuff like that, ve."

Lilli nodded. "Vash was really mad when he found out what happened. He wanted to go teach Ivan a lesson, but I told him not to. I don't think Russia deserves all that."

"Ve~." Italy opened his mouth in a yawn once more, and Liechtenstein giggled.

"Get some sleep." She told him, and Feliciano laughed. "Of course..."

Liechtenstein looked to the side to see that the Italian had fallen asleep in the space of 5 seconds. Stroking his auburn hair gently, she leaned back against her seat and stared out the window. The sky was deeply encased in blackness, and she wondered how Japan could see the way. But it wasn't the color that scared her; it was the feeling that came with it. The icy cold feeling that always had her heart pumping for blood frantically.

Shivering, Liechtenstein tore her gaze from the window and surveyed the small helicopter. She couldn't see Japan, only the back of his chair and a bit of his raven hair, but she could make out America in the next seat clearly. He was staring hard at a strange looking map. And Romano... Liechtenstein's green eyes turned on him. Romano was huddled up in a little corner, staring out into the pitch black window. Liechtenstein unbuckled herself and got up from her seat hesitantly, avoiding waking Feliciano, and walked over to Romano.

"L-Liechtenstein!" Lovino turned to her as she approached, a surprised look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"May I sit?" She gestured to the empty spot next to him.

Romano cast her a calculating glance, and then nodded. Lilli smiled gratefully and sat down, away from the slight tilting of the helicopter.

"What are you doing here?" Romano asked again, suspicious eyes studying her.

Liechtenstein looked at him. "Is it bad that I just want to be here? And I thought you could use a friend." She told him.

Romano blushed slightly. "I don't need any friends, grazie." He scowled once more, the curl flopping to the side.

"O-oh, okay then." Liechtenstein was a bit taken back by Romano's cold attitude, but Italy did say that he usually acted that way. Not wanting to be a bother to Romano, Liechtenstein got up to walk back to her seat.

"W-wait." Romano suddenly called after her. "M-maybe I do need to talk about something."

Lilli's curious green eyes looked down on him. "You do?"

"Si, si." He patted the spot next to him, eyebrows drawn, the scowl never leaving. "Sit."

Liechtenstein sat, giving Romano an expectant look. He sighed quietly. "Ho paura." He told her.

"Hm?"

"I'm scared. Of this Darkness bastardo. It's taken away my fratello once, and you don't know how worried I was. I may not care for my fratello, but he is still family." Romano took a shaky breath, and Liechtenstein looked at him in surprise. "And I'm scared for myself. What will happen to us all if the Darkness destroys everything?"

Liechtenstein looked down at the ground. "I don't know." She said softly. "But we'll all do our best to keep that from happening."

Romano frowned. "I don't understand what everyone is going on about, talking about the Light and stuff, but it's you and us against this big mass of darkness. The Darkness tortures and manipulates, you know. It will turn you dark, and then it'll take over all of us."

She nodded. "I know the Darkness is strong, but I really believe that we can at least chase it away."

"L-Liechtenstein? Take care of Italy, will you?" Romano suddenly said, blushing bright red. "You make him happy. And he really loves you."

Liechtenstein blushed. "I- I will." She promised.

"I just hope that this mess is all over soon and we can just go back to normal." He sighed, and Liechtenstein was about to assure him that it would all be okay, when America bounded up to them and plopped down beside her.

"Hey, Liech, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked, looking strangely flustered.

Liechtenstein looked at Romano, but he just nodded slightly, scowling, and moved away. She glanced after him worriedly, but America brought her back to their conversation.

"Hey, you don't think I'm willing to sacrifice you as the Light and bring you to the root of the trouble, do you?" He asked, worry clearly written all over his face.

Liechtenstein looked at Alfred in surprise. "I don't. What makes you think that?"

"Well, I just wanted to help you come along so that you can help us. I know you have it in you, and like I said, you're stronger than everyone thinks. I really believe that you can fix this mess better than anyone else can."

Liechtenstein blushed. "Thank you, but I'm not sure I can do all that."

Alfred gave her a grin. "I believe in you, Liech."

"H-Hey America-san! There's a strange flashing green button. Should I click it?" Japan called.

Alfred abruptly got up, giving Liechtenstein a slightly apologetic look, and scampered to the front of the helicopter. "What's going on now?" Romano's voice came from beside her.

There was a loud 'click' sound, and suddenly, Liechtenstein could see Austria's face on a small screen on the side of the helicopter.

"America! Stop the helicopter! Turn back!" Austria yelled, his violet eyes flashing. "Bring Liechtenstein back here!"

Romano cast her a look, and then yelled back at the screen before America could. "Liechtenstein is here with us and she's perfectly fine. We're going to bring down the Darkness, you bastardo!"

Austria froze. "R-Romano's there too?"

Liechtenstein walked in front of the screen and stared at Austria with a determined look. "It wasn't America's fault or anything. I chose to come along with them. You can't keep me back at the HQ forever."

"America! Answer me!" Austria ignored her, his searching gaze surveying the helicopter. "And Japan! You have more sense than to follow up with this ridiculous plan."

Liechtenstein watched as Kiku's mouth became a grim line, his gaze still fixed on the little GPS map. "Hai. I'm sorry."

"Austria, dude, why so uptight? Liechtenstein is the Light, like you said, right? So wouldn't the Darkness have to cower in front of her? She'd be able to defeat it right away and we'd all be safe." America piped up.

Austria sighed audibly, his angry eyes glaring at America. "Is that what you think? Liechtenstein may be the Light, but she can not defeat the Darkness so easily. And because she is Light, it'll be able to take advantage of her even more easily, and then what will you do? If Liechtenstein is converted to Darkness, we are all going to be destroyed."

This time America froze up. "I-I didn't know. I'm so sorry Liechtenstein!" He stuttered, his blue eyes wide behind his glasses. "We'll have to go back, Japan."

"Actually, we are following you in the two remaining helicopters. It is surprising that you haven't disappeared from the signal boards like the other helicopters. I have predicted that you are nearing the point where the other helicopters have disappeared, and so you must wait for us. Tell Japan to just hover, and turn back if he can." Suddenly, Austria's instructions disappeared altogether, and the temperature dropped considerably. Liechtenstein jumped up from her seat and ran toward the awakening Italy.

The helicopter suddenly swooped dangerously, and Liechtenstein stumbled, hitting her head on the arm rest of Italy's seat. She winced as a loud 'crack' sound was heard.

"Liechtenstein, ve! What's going on?" Italy unbuckled himself and helped Liechtenstein up to her seat. "Are you okay?" He asked frantically.

"I'm fine." She told him, shivering and leaning up against the chair for more warmth. Were they heading to Antarctica or something?

"I-It's getting c-colder." Italy said loudly, his teeth chattering. Once more, the helicopter tilted to the side, and Liechtenstein had to hold out her hand to help a falling Romano. She pulled him over to the seat on the other side of Italy.

"A-America-san, I can't c-control this thing anymore!" Japan said, his usually calm voice frantic with fear.

"Don't worry J- Japan! I'll just ask Austria. Austria? A-Austria?"

Static filled the air. "America... tell... button on the right side... GPS map... go back..."

"What!" America yelled, furiously tapping on buttons on the GPS.

"America! I-It's the b-button on the right side!" Liechtenstein told him, trying to keep her own teeth from chattering. She drew her legs up to her chest for warmth, wrapping her arms around them and clutching Italy's hand. The helicopter was now losing light; the little dim lights that were left were starting to flicker, and the darkness outside seemed even more frightening. Liechtenstein bit her lip.

"I-It's never this cold in Italy!" Feliciano stuttered, and held onto his brother's arm. On Romano's face was the look of sheer horror.

"B-Button on the right side. G-Got it!" America said, and Japan leaned over to look. He instantly turned to look at the screen.

"Austria-san! The instructions are in German or Italian or something!" Kiku yelled.

"It... not that way... America must have... clicked... wrong."

"I-Italian? L-Let me see that." Italy said, trying to force himself to stand up, but the out of control helicopter slammed him back into his seat.

"America! Fix this!" Japan yelled, but just as America was poking around with the GPS once more, the door of the helicopter flung open.

"Austria!" America turned to the screen frantically, but it had gone dark. Liechtenstein clenched her jaws together to keep from bursting out into sobs. She had to be brave. For Italy, and for everyone else.

"A-America! Let me get that d-door!" She uncurled herself and removed her hands from Italy's, standing up shakily. "H-here. I've got a grip on it!" She stumbled forward and leaned out into the Darkness to grab onto the handle. "H-help me pull it back!" She called to America.

Alfred called out an answer, but Liechtenstein didn't hear it. "_Ah, my lovely Liechtenstein. You've come to me._"

Startled and frightening, Lilli frantically reached out for America's outstretched hand, missed, and tumbled out of the doorway.

"Help!" She screamed, falling headfirst into the blinding Darkness. She heard several voices calling her name, but then she wasn't sure anymore. It seemed like she was just falling... falling and crying out helplessly, until the sky around her turned gray and she hit the ground with a bone-crushing force.

"H-Help..." She managed weakly, as a giant fireball crashed down near her. She recognized the helicopter right away, and painfully got on her knees to crawl over to it. Her friends... were they alright? "Italy? A-America? Romano? Japan?" She called out, her voice hoarse from screaming, her shaking arms barely supporting her. "I-Italy?"

"Liechtenstein! Help us!"

For some strange reason, everything in front of her was spinning. She couldn't see the helicopter anymore, only a blinding light in the gray mist. And she couldn't even see her own hands. But she did feel her fingers brush past Italy's auburn strands of hair and she grabbed onto his hand shakily.

And then she blacked out completely.

* * *

**So... how'd you like that? I really want your opinions on this chapter. Was it good? Ok? Too little? Not scary enough?**

Well, just to let you know ahead of time, I'm planning on a new Liech fic. It'll probably be RomaLiech, because I just realized how cute they are together and my obsession with the Italian brothers is quickly growing ^^ Short summary: (A bit of a AU fic) Romano has somehow lost his memory, and he wakes up one day to find that he is living with Spain in a place he doesn't recall living in, ever. The strange thing is, he has memories, but he doesn't recognize anyone in his memories, and surprisingly, Spain never appears in those memories. But when Romano meets the new maid, Liechtenstein, things really start to change.

Does that sound like a fic you guys would enjoy reading? Please give me feedback on the summary, and this chapter, and the way this story is turning out, in general.

**~PDAN**

**(Also, is anyone watching Euro? If yes, you are awesome ^^ Any Azzurri fans out there?)**


	25. Torture

**Ok, so first of all, I just want to say...**

**I love you guys! Every single one of you out there that is reading this fic. Whether you've just come across it or you've been a loyal reader, that doesn't matter. Just... thank you! For reading and staying with me and reviewing and just... reading! I've laughed while reading your reviews, cried while reading your reviews (well, get teary-eyed), and jumped for joy, too. You've helped me with my inspiration, raised my muse for writing, and prompted me to update as much as I can. And I love you all!**

**This chapter is longer than my usual ones, and it is in fact the second to last chapter of Darkness and Light! Just warning ya, the ending there has a huge cliffhanger. I just love my cliffhangers!**

My second fic, "What should have been", will be up when I finish with this one. And to all RomaLiech fans out there, I'm glad that I've chosen the right pairing ^^

So, enjoy this chapter!  


* * *

**XXV. Torture**

Liechtenstein woke up to black walls all around her. She immediately leapt to her feet in panic, brushing her dirty blonde hair out of the way, and walked all around the room, her fingers trailing along the wall to find an exit. There were none.

Panicked and frightened, she pounded on the wall with her fists. "Help! Help me!" She called, her voice hoarse, painful coughs interrupting her pleas for help. "I-Is anyone out there?" She kept calling, but eventually realized that, to her dismay, there was no one there to help her. But she suddenly didn't feel so scared.

Lilli knew that she was now in Darkness' territory, and it must have captured her somehow. But she was the one that had begged to come, and so she wouldn't be afraid. It was almost as if in her heart, she knew that it would come down to this, and she wasn't ready at the least, but still willing to sacrifice herself.

Liechtenstein began pacing around the empty room, thinking hard. She'd never given much thought about the sacrifice, about her being the Light, none of that. But now that she was here, she was really facing the Darkness; she wasn't scared to give away herself. She knew that Austria had said that if she was converted to Darkness, everyone would be in danger, and so she wouldn't do that. She'd make a deal with the Darkness, to become one with it, to let it take her, to give up herself, but for it to leave everyone alone in return. She'd sacrifice herself.

A sudden fiery pain in her ankle made her gasp as she took the next step. Bending down to examine it, she concluded that it must have been sprained when she fell out of the helicopter. Crumpled up in a corner and clutching her foot, she worried for the others. Where were Italy, America, Romano and Japan? Were they alright?

"_My lovely Liechtenstein._"

Liechtenstein glanced up warily at the direction of the voice. She had gotten so used to it by now that it didn't frighten her as much as before. Even when the dark mass in the opposite corner of the room morphed into the shape of a young boy, she wasn't fazed, but only kept her piercing green gaze on it.

"_Lovely Liechtenstein. We meet again._" The boy said, walking toward her and caressing her face. She pushed him back defiantly.

"_You were brave, you know, to disobey all orders to be here. Have you accepted me?_"

Liechtenstein knew that although it had never been exchanged with words, the Darkness knew what she was here for, and she knew what it wanted. But she couldn't give herself to it, not yet.

"Where are my friends?" She asked, staring directly into the Darkness' lustful eyes. "I want to see them."

"_What makes you think you can?_" The boy chuckled, kneeling down beside her. "_You are a brave one, my lovely Liechtenstein. What happened to the frightful, timid girl that I first met?_"

Liechtenstein ignored it. "I want to see my friends. What have you done to them?" She pushed, trying to get some information out of the Darkness. Its red eyes lingered on her.

"_You must despise me right now. For taking all your loved ones captive. For hurting them. But just become mine and I'll set them free._"

And uncertain look passed in her eyes, but she didn't budge. She couldn't let this thing see all her worries and her anger. "I don't despise you, really." She told the boy, enjoying the confused look that fluttered by his eyes for a millisecond. "This is the way you live. I just feel sorry that you have to live this way. Always preying on others to survive." She took a deep breath to still her racing heart, watching the Darkness closely to see if it was listening. Although her voice trembled, she went on. "Hate is a bad thing. Not everyone has the same opinions, but we all do things for the same reason. To survive. Or at least, to help others survive." At this, her eyes hardened, and she stared at the Darkness. "I would like to make a deal with you."

"_Oh? A deal?_" Its voice was suddenly uncertain. "_And what kind of deal is that?_"

"I want to see my friends. And if they are all alive and well, then I shall offer myself to you. And then you will let them go and live in peace."

"_What makes you think that you are better than the rest? That I would be satisfied with only you?_" The boy in front of her sneered, but she could see that his eyes were shining with lust. She shivered inwardly, knowing the huge sacrifice she was about to make, but if it would help rescue everyone else, then it was worth it.

"_I want you to accept the Darkness inside you, of course. Everyone has those insecure, hateful feelings that they want to let out, and I'm sure you are no different. But just because you accept the Darkness doesn't mean I'll let everyone else off the hook. You don't have enough power inside you to satisfy my needs._" It chuckled slightly. "_What makes you think you're worthy enough to be of sacrifice?_"

Liechtenstein raised her head to look the boy straight in his eyes. "I am Light." She told him simply.

The Darkness jerked visibly. "_O-Oh, right. I must have forgotten that. But now, what makes you think that I only need to feed on the Light to survive?_"

Liechtenstein let out a brief laugh. "You are Darkness, and you feed off power. The Light is one of the purest forms of power you can have. And so, quite frankly, you need me." She swallowed, trying to keep up with the brave and indifferent facade of a heroine. "And if not, then why do you keep trying to weaken me?"

The Darkness gave a nervous chuckle. "_You're a smart one, lovely Liechtenstein._" It merely said.

Liechtenstein watched as the Darkness slowly started to fade away. A feeling of panic rose in her. "W-Wait! What about our deal?"

"_Don't worry, I shall be back soon to accept your deal._" That was the only thing she heard before the black mass faded away completely.

* * *

The Darkness reappeared outside of Liechtenstein's prison. Proud as it was, it couldn't help but admit that the little blonde girl had struck right at its weakness. It was true that Darkness, no matter how strong, needed power to survive. It needed to feel the satisfaction of others pain and desperation, and that was why the Darkness had been torturing, manipulating emotions for as long as it had been alive. It drowned in the feelings of helplessness and fear on many's faces and in their hearts. But for some reason, Liechtenstein wouldn't let it bring her over to the dark side. She had held onto the string of Light for so long.

And it was true that Light was the only thing in the world that could defeat the Darkness, and Darkness was the only thing that could defeat Light. Dealing with Liechtenstein, dealing with her Light, made the Darkness feel weak. All she knew was love, pure love, and her naivety made it impossible for it to trick her into despising darkness and bringing darkness upon her very own beating heart. And so, to become strong again, it had to embrace the Light, it had to weaken it and watch as it died away. The feeling of conquering Darkness' strongest enemy was more satisfying than the thousands of tortured souls out there.

So it had to have Liechtenstein.

It would accept her deal. It would take her and her only, vanquish her Light, and then it'd be strong again. And then after that, it wouldn't be too late to take over the rest of those weak and pitiful nations.

"_Oh, did the lovely Liechtenstein think that I would go ahead with my deal and actually leave her so called 'friends' alone?_" It spoke outloud. No, such a naive and young being might believe that he would fulfill their deal, but Darkness was more than that. Once it took her, it would take everyone, too.

A horrible chuckle filled the air. "_Now, it's time to pay a visit to our newest captives, the Austrian aristocrat and the rest of his team. Oh, and let's not forget about our potty-mouthed Romano and quiet Japan. Oh yes, and that weak little Italy, and the shame of a hero- America._"

With that, the dark mass separated into several smaller ones, each heading a different direction towards the closed off prisons of the rest of the nations.

* * *

America smashed his head against the wall over and over again.

He tried kicking it, he tried punching it, he even pushed against it with his back.

It wouldn't budge.

He had to find a way out of this horrible room. He had to... he had to find Liechtenstein and make sure she was okay. He remembered that he had been stupid enough to let her reach for that helicopter door by herself, and then he had failed when she had needed a hero. The thought was enough to make him slam everything he had against the wall once more. Damn that Darkness thing.

After that last hit against the wall, Alfred saw stars, and had to sit down momentarily to regain consciousness. Ever since he had woken up and realized that he was stuck inside the wretched room -which was about... an hour? A day ago? - he had found himself drifting in and out of consciousness. There was a strange feeling of dizziness he felt. Sometimes he was wide awake and feeling strong enough to butt through the wall, which hadn't happened yet, and sometimes he felt like being in a coma. He kept remembering the last minutes right before the helicopter crashed, and how he hadn't listened to Austria and led Liechtenstein to her death.

If she died, it would be all his fault. He had sworn to himself to always be her hero and protect her, and he had failed to do the only thing he could for her. He was a terrible person, a terrible friend, a terrible hero.

In the middle of cursing the Darkness with every single bad word he knew –had he become that influenced with Romano's style of speaking? - America saw a little black mark in a corner of the room. He was instantly confused, because all four walls of the room was painted white, and so what could that black thing be?

Pushing Texas up and fixing Nantucket, he crawled over to it for a closer look, discarding his dirty and ripped up bomber jacket at the spot where he had been. Upon nearing the black mark, he found that it was an entrance to the outside world and not just a mark.

America remembered that everything outside had been black and gray when he had passed out, and that must have been the reason why there was a beam of black light coming through that little crack in the wall. Suddenly hyped up with renewed energy, America plunged a finger through the black mark. It went right through, proving his suspicions.

"All right!" He cheered, rubbing his palms together and proceeded to punching, kicking, and butting the crack with his head until it started to widen. With growing excitement, he jabbed at the wall with his elbow and suddenly, the white walls began to fall apart.

They quickly crumbled to the ground, leaving America dodging all the debris that was falling down. Surprisingly, the white dust that made up the walls all but disintegrated as they touched the ground, and America found that he was finally free of those imprisoning walls at last.

Rising to his full height, he stared wide-eyed at his surroundings. There were many white rooms around the area, and he assumed that each nation was being imprisoned in one. He suddenly thought of his brother Canada, who was among the first nations to disappear, and wondered if he was doing alright after so many days. Did the Darkness ever offer food or water to those nations, or had they all... died already?

Just as he was thinking of Liechtenstein and where she could be among the dozens of white walls, he spotted a petite blonde figure and a pale boy making their way around the rooms. Curious, he dodged behind a room to try to hear what they were talking about.

"... _So all I have to do now is drop these walls and show you how your friends are doing, and if they're all fine, then you'll come to me?_" America didn't recognize the unfamiliar sinister voice, but he assumed that it was the Darkness speaking.

"Yes. Every single one of them has to be okay. And then you shall have me, and let them all go."

This time, America immediately recognized Liechtenstein's voice. It sounded different than usual, not cheery and kind like normal, but trembling and determined. What was Liechtenstein doing with the Darkness? What kind of deal were they making?

"_Yes. And then I shall have you._"

What?

H-Have Liechtenstein? As in... take her away? Was Lilli sacrificing herself for the rest? She couldn't! Not only did he worry about the fact that the Darkness wouldn't keep its promise, but he also worried about Liechtenstein. She would surely... perish.

"_Who would you like me to show you first?_" The Darkness said, its voice so sugary sweet all of a sudden that it made Alfred instantly alarmed. He peeked out from behind the wall, but couldn't see anything. It seemed like the Darkness and Liechtenstein had moved away. Determined to get to the root of the mystery, America followed them. He had to watch Liechtenstein, and if the Darkness dared do anything to her, he'd be there to rescue her. This time, he'd do it right.

* * *

"Switzerland." Liechtenstein said. "Show me my big bruder."

Immediately, the Darkness trailed over to a white walled room, Liechtenstein following suit. The walls seemed to shiver greatly, and then they all crumbled to the ground, to her amazement, and disintegrated. She could now see a crumpled up figure huddled on the ground.

"Big bruder!" She screamed, dashing forward and collapsing in a pile right next to Switzerland. She forgot about everything else: the brave act, the Darkness watching them, and caressed her brother's head. "Big bruder! Please wake up!"

Switzerland cracked open an eye and smiled weakly. "Liechtenstein." He muttered, trying to push himself up into a sitting position. Liechtenstein realized that Vash had been kept there for the longest of them all, and he must have been drained of all strength.

"Big bruder! It's okay. I'm here now." She told him, blinking back tears.

"W-What did the Darkness do to you?" Switzerland immediately asked, his chest tightening as he tried to stand up and get a look at the black mass behind her. "And how did you get here? I thought I told Austria to keep you safe at the HQ?"

Liechtenstein bowed her head. "I'm sorry big bruder. It was my fault. I wanted... to come here to save you."

Switzerland gaped at her. "Lilli!" He cried, scowling at the Darkness. "You have to try to get out of here. I'm sure Austria will come and rescue as all somehow." He suddenly coughed, bending over to clutch at his chest.

"Bruder!" Liechtenstein panicked, patting Vash's back lightly to keep the coughs from coming. Luckily, he stopped after a while, breathing hard.

"Bruder, Austria is here, too. Everyone has been captured." She said quietly.

Vash squinted his eyes at her. "But then why are you out here?" He asked, clearly confused.

Liechtenstein sighed softly. "Bruder, I made a deal with the Darkness. I'm going to let it take me, so everyone will be safe."

Switzerland instantly had a fit of rage. "Lilli! No! You can not do that!" He turned to the smirking boy behind her, whom he assumed was one of the Darkness' morphs. "Release her from the deal now. I order you!"

"_This is your sister's deal and not your own. Anyway, what gives you the power to order me around?_"

Switzerland fumed, getting to his feet shakily and took a step toward the Darkness. Instead of having the effect he wanted it to, he just collapsed by Lilli's side.

"Big bruder! Please don't. I will be okay, I promise you. I just want everyone to be safe. Besides, it's just my life against hundreds of other nations." She attempted a weak smile.

Switzerland glared at her and the Darkness. "How could you be so selfish! Haven't you thought about how I would be if anything were to happen to you? And wouldn't it be better if we all died together, or at least survive for a little while longer, if you held on to the light inside of you?'

"I want to save you from your suffering, big bruder." Liechtenstein said slowly, trying to reason with him. She knew he wouldn't like it, but she'd already agreed to the deal and she wouldn't back out.

Leaving Switzerland to recover from the shock of the news, Liechtenstein turned to the boy. "I want to see Italy." She told him.

"_Alright._" Once more, Liechtenstein watched as the walls crumbled down and she could see Italy holding himself on the ground.

"Mein bruder, wait here." She told her brother urgently, and then jumped to her feet and ran over to Italy.

"Italia... Italia..." She fell to her knees before him, her green eyes wide with fear. "Italy... I'm here. Wake up, please." She nudged him, putting out a shaking hand to stroke his hair.

Feliciano's body was curled up, but when he heard Liechtenstein's voice, his grip loosened and his head rolled to the side weakly. "Ve..." He managed, smiling weakly, his amber eyes losing all light.

"Italy!" Liechtenstein leaned down to hug him, but then noticed the red stained uniform. "Italy! W-What happened?"

He didn't answer. Liechtenstein bit her lip, and then pulled him into her arms. "D-Does it hurt?" She whispered against his shoulder.

Italy shook his head. "N-No, ve. I'll be okay. J-Just, while the Darkness is distracted, run away from here. Run as far as you can. I-It's terrible." Feliciano was beginning to sob. Liechtenstein pulled away from him, placing a hand on the wound and biting her lip hard when Italy flinched.

"I'm sorry." She told him, holding his hand in hers tightly. "If I had waited until Austria came along, this wouldn't have happened."

Suddenly, the little boy –the Darkness- came up behind her, snickering. "_Is that reunion enough for you? Would you like to see anyone else before you offer yourself to me_?"

Liechtenstein whipped her head around angrily, fixing her flashing green eyes on the Darkness. "What did you do to Italy?" She demanded, her arms wrapping instinctively around the shaking Italian.

"_Oh, this and that._"

Realizing anger wasn't going to take care of the problem, Liechtenstein turned back to Italy, her body shielding his bloody and bruised one in case the Darkness decided to hurt him once more. "I want to see America and China." She said, careful to keep her voice level.

The sound of crumbling started once more, and Liechtenstein turned away from Italy just in time to see China sitting against the falling wall with his head buried in his arms.

"Ch-China!" She called, heart pounding in worry when China finally lifted his head.

His eyes widened. "L-Liechtenstein! You're really here!" Wasting no time, China got to his feet and limped over to her and Italy.

Liechtenstein felt a smile tugging at her lips when she saw that China wasn't hurt. She reached out a hand to pull him down.

"_Stop right there!"_ The Darkness screeched suddenly.

Before she knew what was happening, the Darkness had disappeared from its spot. It was slinking somewhere toward the middle of all the white prisons, and it seemed to be closing in on someone. Instantly alert, Liechtenstein told Italy to wait while she followed the boy, who was quickly returning to his shape of a black mass.

"H-Hey! Stop it! Haven't we got a deal to keep? You promised not to hurt anyone as long as I agreed to-"

"_I_ _promised that, but unfortunately, your part of the promise hadn't been kept too well, either. This idiot escaped from his room_." The Darkness paused just long enough for Liechtenstein to see America standing wide-eyed in the midst of the darkness. "And now he's planning to become a wanna-be hero and save everyone."

America's eyes widened even more. "L-Liechtenstein! You're okay!" He managed, before starting to cough violently. The Darkness had closed in on him, and all Lilli could see was a black mass.

"S-Stop!" She yelled frantically, stepping forward and striking at the Darkness. Her hand just wavered in mid-air. She should have known not to do that; the Darkness wasn't something that could be touched.

"Stop it! R-Release everyone! Now!" She screamed, and suddenly, the Darkness shrank back into the shape of a little boy. It faced her, eyes locked on hers, but its hands wrapped tightly around Alfred's neck. America was starting to turn blue.

"_Are you sure that's what you want?_" It snickered. Without waiting for a response, the hundreds of white walls surrounding them crumbled and disintegrated into white dust, which rained freely around Liechtenstein.

The Darkness's hand had not moved away from Alfred's throat.

"Release America, too." She demanded, locking her piercing green gaze on the Darkness.

The boy's hand slowly loosened, as if he had to force himself to let go. The Darkness' flawless pale face twitched slightly.

"L-Liechtenstein! I can't move!" America suddenly said, and Liechtenstein's gaze snapped from the boy's face and turned to look at Alfred instead. He seemed to be straining, but an invisible force was keeping him from moving.

"H-Hey! Stop it! Release them all, like I s-said." Liechtenstein looked at the Darkness, but this time she was uncertain, and a touch of fear was beginning to creep into her eyes. What had it done to her friends?

The Darkness chuckled darkly. "_Oh, I've released them from their prisons, but I've got to keep them in order. Would you prefer it if I let them all go and one of them tries to do something stupid? Like maybe, save you from me?_" At this, America flinched visibly.

Liechtenstein stared at the Darkness, stunned, and then ran over to America. She reached for his hand, ignoring the Darkness' angry stare behind her. As soon as her fingers touched his, there was a strange, blinding light, and suddenly Liechtenstein felt America's fingers close around hers.

"I-I can move now!" America said quietly, his astonished blue eyes studying Liechtenstein. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know." She told him, staring at her hands before turning back to the raging black mass before her. Sensing that it was about to make a move for America once more, she stepped right in front of him and held out her arms. She was going to make use of her new-found weapon while she could.

"Liechtenstein!" Suddenly, furious screams erupted from all around her, and Liechtenstein turned her head this way and that way furiously. Everywhere she looked, there was a nation being occupied by a black mass. The Darkness had divided itself and was now surrounding them all. If she didn't do something soon-

"Alfred, take care." She told America, squeezing his hand once before running furiously toward her brother, Italy and China.

"Big bruder!" She screamed. Vash didn't answer. An inky black figure lunged at her, but she dodged it. "Italy!" This time, the Darkness struck her and she fell to the ground, rolling helplessly. "China!" Heaving for breath, she pushed herself off the ground and took off in the direction of Italy.

"Stop it! Let him go!" Liechtenstein shoved the black mass to the side, but naturally, it did no harm to the Darkness.

"_You remember that vision I showed you a while ago? Well, it's starting to come true._" A chuckle escaped from the black mass.

Liechtenstein held Italy in her arms protectively. "Stop! Don't hurt him. Don't hurt anyone. Y-You can take now, but just leave everyone alone."

"_Oh, is it time? Have you given up?_" The Darkness tormented her with its mocking voice.

"Y-Yes! Just take me and leave our planet!"

"L-Liechtenstein! Don't! It's not going to keep its promise!" Italy tugged on her arm, his amber eyes begging to her. "Please don't give yourself up!"

"_Shut up._" The Darkness struck Italy so hard that he sprawled backwards to the ground, hands clutching his face. Without waiting for an invitation, it lashed out at Feliciano, and all Liechtenstein could see was a black blob circling Italy.

"W-Wait! Stop! Just take me!" She started sobbing, reaching out blindly. All around her, nations were collapsing, exhausted from fighting, and too tired to keep on defending themselves. "P-Please!" She pleaded, falling to her knees. She didn't care about the pain that she would feel when the Darkness took over her; she just wanted to save everyone from the terrible torture they were going through.

The black mass stopped, and the figure of the boy quickly appeared in front of her. "_Alright then_." It gave a horrible sneer, and held out its hand.

"_Take it._"

"_Take my hand. And I'll let them live. Only you will die. Only you will lose your light, your soul, and everything that matters to you. I'll take you and only you. Just take my hand, and this will all be over. I'll leave the planet and your friends can live peacefully again, just like before._"

"_Just take my hand._"

"Liechtenstein! Don't! I-It's lying to you!"

Liechtenstein's green eyes glazed over, as if she was in a trance. Slowly, she stepped toward the Darkness, her hand held poised before her. "Y-Yes." She told herself. "This is what I have to do."

She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to bring the happy thoughts to the front of her mind. She was doing this for everyone else. Truth was, at that moment, she didn't care for herself anymore. She would give up, but only for the other nations. For her brother, for Italy, for China and America, for Iceland, for Japan, for Sealand, and Romano, and Prussia, and everyone else. For Hungary, and Belgium, and Seychelles, and Canada, and even Russia too. Everyone.

She touched her hand to the boy's tentatively, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes.

"You can have me."


	26. Darkness and Light

**The last chapter... is finally up! It's very long, too... And because this will be my last AN until the next fic... I'm gonna dedicate this AN section to answering your questions.**

iPastalia: I love your name! And thank you for reviewing! Glad that I've made you a fan of ItaLiech and AmeriLiech and hope that you'll continue reading my next fic!

Sparklypandas: Epic finale, indeed! I'm ecstatic that I've given you such a reaction because of the cliffhanger 8D I'm so happy that my story is keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Ayumi Kudou: Wow! You've been with me from the first chapter, and you always support me! Thank you! To answer your question, I tend to stay away from M-rated stories, so I'm pretty bad with writing them. They also make me kinda queasy, so I'm just gonna stick with the less mature ratings for now. And also, thank you so much for giving me the links of ItaLiech!

Pimp with a chainsaw: Daddy! xD You make me laugh every single time I read your review, and I'm really happy to have you with me since I started this story. Props to you!

Random person: Sometimes I wonder if two people both review as 'Random person', what will happen... But anyway, I loved your little skit! And thank you too, for staying with me throughout this story!

Liechtenstein's Lover: A Pirate!England and Liechtenstein fic sounds interesting... I shall consider that idea. And thank you for your praises! I'm just a beginner in writing, but your comments really help boost my confidence.

WOW: I don't mind yaoi or yuri, and I rather like reading those, if they don't get too lemony or too overated. Liechtenstein pairings are my OTPs, but I'm willing to write anything! Except that I've realized that I officially suck at writing one shots. They tend to get too long and turn into a full-out fic. But I do write drabbles to get my inspiration going, though. Maybe I'll post some of those.

So now... on with the story!

* * *

**XXVI. Darkness... and Light**

As Liechtenstein's fingers grazed the Darkness's waiting hand, she felt no regret. The chaotic world around her slowly disappeared; the screams and the desperate cries for help slowly faded away. She was... being propelled through a dark void, with her violet ribbon and her hair fluttering and brushing against her cheeks. The Darkness ahead didn't end.

She realized that she wasn't scared. She had allowed the Darkness to take her willingly, because she loved her friends. She hadn't given up out of fear or worry for herself, but because she wanted others to survive. She didn't mind giving away all her Light because of that reason.

Simply moving through the void of Darkness, Liechtenstein's memories rushed into her mind. She knew that she had changed, a lot, for the better. Before Switzerland had left, she had been much of an introvert. She was shy and only kept to herself, her brother, her two closest friends: Iceland and Sealand. She followed her brother to world meetings, spent the holidays with him, and went along with him everywhere. Her whole entire life, since Switzerland had taken her in, revolved around him. She'd never let herself share a little happiness; whatever her brother wanted was what she would do. Switzerland wouldn't ever know, but the amount of gratitude and love she felt for him had been what her entire life was about. She always kept to herself, staying away from others, just to please him. She was quite comfortable with that, and she had always told him she was happy, but subconsciously, she'd always yearned to become an individual.

She had become friends with Sealand because he was almost the exact opposite of her. She admired his never-ending strive to become a nation, his cheerfulness and his happiness. Not many identified him as a real nation, but they all knew him as Sealand. And she was just known as Switzerland's quiet and polite little sister. And then she'd come to admire Iceland because he was similar to her in many ways. Although he chose to remain a bit cold and aloof at times, he had been her savior in tight situations. He had been her former hero. Sealand and Iceland were the ones she was closest to.

Of course, she still remembered Prussia. He was also a close friend after coming to babysit her so much, and she'd gotten quite used to his "awesome" streak. But becoming so close gave her a bigger opportunity to understand him. She had always thought of him as an extrovert, very loud and so vain to the point of irritation. But getting to know him more made her realize that maybe Prussia had been hiding behind a mask. Sure, he was kinda vain, but that just made her admire him more. She knew that he had been through a lot: Falling out as a nation, separated from his brother, and then coming back to a world where not a lot of nations respected him. Liechtenstein knew all this, and she used her knowledge of his hardship to come up with the right things to say to comfort him. When she was able to help someone was when she was really feeling herself, like the Austrian princess she had once been. But most of the time, she was also hiding behind a mask, interpreting others' hidden feelings but never coming out with her own.

But when the Darkness sighting provoked Switzerland to go away, she had started to open up to others. Life didn't revolve around her brother anymore. She had become friends with America against all odds, become closer to China although he had been the enemy, get acquainted to Japan and Canada, and many more nations. She had experienced a lot, and grown emotionally, and of course she still remembered the little incident with Russia. Oh, and she'd fallen for Italy, too.

The Darkness was pressing closer to her, and if she just reached out, she could feel the cold, black sides of the void. The Darkness was extracting her Light, leaving her a soulless body in the end. She wasn't afraid, but she clung on to the Light and the last of her memories.

It hadn't been a "love at first sight" kind of thing, with Italy. No. When she first met him, he was just another nation for her to interpret, to be curious about. But his enthusiasm was contagious, and she soon fell under the spell. She was really... happy with Italy. She didn't feel like she had to hide behind the polite, quiet mask, because he would be her friend no matter what. So she laughed with him, she cried with him... Come to think of it, Italy was the only one that had seen her cry.

For a while, she didn't feel anything more for Feliciano. He was just a very close friend, someone who she could be herself around, someone who could really understand what she needed most. Happiness. But the day that he had found her crying in the rain, longing for Switzerland, was the day that she had started seeing him in a different light. He wasn't just the symbol of happiness; he really cared about others. He could really be serious, deep inside, although he might seem oblivious to the world on the outside. And because he understood her, at least partially, she let him in.

That had been the best decision she had ever made. Italy had taught her to be a true individual, to think for herself, to have feelings. Now, thinking about it, Liechtenstein wondered why she was the Light instead of Italy. He was the purest of them all, the most innocent one. He was the one that had changed her the most. She loved him, because he was him, and because of everything that he had helped her through, although she doubted that he acknowledged that fact. Italy now knew that she really loved him and admired him, but she wondered if he knew the extent of her love. It had been like a blossoming flower, her first fragile feelings of _love. _That one thing that Switzerland had warned her about was what she had come to feel. And she didn't regret it.

In fact, she didn't regret the Darkness coming along. Because of it, she had changed. And so she was ready to embrace it now, to save all the people that had helped her understand herself.

"Danke!" She cried out in the blackness, her voice echoing in the void. "Danke!"

And suddenly, everything stopped for a second, and then all the darkness broke apart before her like shattering glass, and she was propelled forward into the Light.

* * *

If the Darkness had been a girl, a rather prissy and annoying one at that, it would have jumped up and squealed the moment Liechtenstein took its hand.

But it wasn't a girl. In fact, the Darkness didn't even have a gender to it. Maybe it was just... a gender-neutral dark thingy. Yeah, probably. But that wasn't the point.

The point was that the moment Liechtenstein's fingers touched its pale hand, the shape of the boy had instantly melted away and resumed its original mass of blackness. And Liechtenstein, her body, anyway, had frozen in front of it, while her soul had been sucked into the void of Darkness. It would extract her Light there, take all her power, and then kill her soulless body. And with that power, it would take over the rest of the damned planet. Easy.

And really, the Darkness enjoyed being as it was. Because when you were Light, you tend to become too naive, just like the little Liechtenstein. She had fallen into its trap, just because she had followed her heart instead of listening to her mind (and her beloved Italy). Did she really think that maybe it had a good side to it? The side that would let her make a simple deal and then be gone with it? No, the Darkness had been planning to take over the moment it finished sucking away her life.

Snickering to itself and sneering at the wide-eyed nations surrounding it, the Darkness felt pleased. It had done a good job. Sure, the little nation was smart, but it was smarter. And this was the end of her.

"P-Please, let her go." The nation known as Italy pleaded to him. The Darkness lashed out at him, creating yet another wound.

"Hey! Release my sister now!" An angry voice shouted from behind it, and Switzerland came tumbling right through it. The Darkness assumed that the stupid nation had tried to give it some kind of injury, and was, of course, unsuccessful. Growing impatient, it lashed out from all sides with its blackness and the nations were instantly unmoving again, just like before. The Darkness was so close to gaining the core of the little nation, and it wouldn't have interruptions.

"_So close._"

But suddenly, something stopped.

"_Danke!_" It heard from somewhere deep within. "_Danke!_"

The frozen body of Liechtenstein was starting to twitch. The Darkness immediately realized in horror what she had done to it, but it was too late. It had been too early in celebrating its victory, and it hadn't thought about the alternate situation. Now it could only watch as Liechtenstein regained all her movements. As the blonde nation felt the energy pulse in her blood once more, she whirled around to face the Darkness, shimmering under a halo of Light. And the Darkness could do nothing as it burst into millions of specks of dust and rose into the air.

* * *

Liechtenstein's hands were poised in front of her, just in case something happened, but then they slowly fell to her sides. The nations around her were starting to twitch slightly, and then it was as if the whole world was coming alive at once. The eerie silence had given way to a deafening roar of joy. Liechtenstein stood, head bowed low to hide the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. Tears of happiness.

"Liech!"

"Liechtenstein, ve, you did it!"

"Liechtenstein, aru!"

"Mein schwester!"

"Hai! Liechtenstein."

"Ve!" A body slammed into hers suddenly, and she fell to the ground, Italy right on top of her. Quickly, he held out his hand for her to take, and as soon as she was upright once more, he slid his arms around her in a giant bear hug.

_Italy gives the best hugs, _she thought.

Liechtenstein blushed into his shoulder. "I-Italy, you can let go now." She told him quietly, although she didn't really want to. It was a comforting change from the cold darkness she had gone through.

"I don't want to, ve! We can stay this way forever!" Feliciano replied, but the moment was cut short when Switzerland tugged her away.

"Liechtenstein, you did it." He told her, and she had to strain to hear his voice over all the nations calling each other.

"I-I guess I did." She said, and a huge smile broke out on her face. She took her brother's hand, because she wanted to be his little sister again, not the one that had disobeyed his orders, and she wanted to feel his brotherly touch. "I'm sorry, big bruder. For everything."

"You better be!" He scolded her, and worry instantly made the blood rush to her cheeks. "You almost gave me a heart attack when I saw you there with the Darkness. And when you agreed to give yourself up-"

"Ich liebe dich, big bruder!" Liechtenstein flung her arms around him. "I'm ok now. You don't need to be worried anymore." She pulled back to smile at him, and then squinted her eyes slightly in confusion. "Actually, do you know what just happened? I couldn't have defeated that thing by myself, could I?"

Switzerland glanced at the string of dust that was rising to the sky, which was brightening fast. The dark and dreary surrounding had turned brighter in just a matter of minutes. "I don't know, actually, but I think it couldn't take away your Light. It couldn't convert you to Darkness."

"But I gave up. I... let it take me."

"I don't think the Darkness really... _takes _you. I think it just says that so you would lose all hope, and then extract your Light so you would be left with nothing but an emotionless soul. But I guess it couldn't take away your hope. You must have done something to make it realize that."

"Oh." Liechtenstein followed her brother's line of sight toward the brightening sky, smiling to herself. "I guess I did."

The yells and calls of the many nations around her had suddenly died into a silence, and America was the one that broke the heavy silence. "Dudes! It's January 1st! And because this whole thing is over, the hero invites you all to his house this evening for a world meeting and then a par-tay!"

Liechtenstein giggled slightly, and the other nations seemed to agree with the idea. Everyone seemed strangely cooperative and tolerant of each other, but Liechtenstein supposed that it was because of the fact that the danger was over. She was about to go find America in the midst of the crowd, when everybody seemed to be moving toward her.

"For Liechtenstein, our heroine!" America's voice rang out loudly, and the remaining nations echoed his cry. And then it seemed like the whole world was embracing her all at once.

"Danke, Darkness."

_This was worth fighting for._

* * *

Liechtenstein sat beside her brother at the world meeting, quietly watching as the nations argued with each other. It seemed like life had returned to normal once again.

"Hey! Hey! We came here to have a world meeting and discuss the ways to recover from the Darkness, not to fight, dudes!" America shouted, trying to break the fight between China and Russia.

"Oh, America is actually serious for once." England mocked, but then he turned to give an encouraging smile to America.

"Yeah! So listen to me, everyone!"

The noise didn't cease.

Liechtenstein glanced at Germany, who was sitting at the head of the long conference table. She was counting down the seconds to when he would explode. And seeing as his eyes were starting to twitch and grow considerable darker, she suspected that it wouldn't be long. 5, 4, 3, 2-

"Would you all just shut up! We are here to discuss the damage the Darkness has left behind, which is a very serious matter for us nations, and look at what you are doing, you dummkopfs!" Germany slammed his papers on the table, and the entire room immediately fell silent. Well, except for the bickering in the corner.

"This is all your fault, aru! If you hadn't tried to conquer Liechtenstein, the Darkness wouldn't have come!"

"Hey, that is not true, da."

"Of course it is! I mean-" The sudden silence caused China to let go of Russia's coat collar and turn to face the entire roomful of nations gaping at him. Seeing this, they both let out nervous chuckles.

"Germany, da! Go back to what you were saying, please." Russia gave a calm smile.

"Big bruder, I don't think this is good." Liechtenstein told Switzerland, who had tensed up and was now drawing his gun.

"W-Wait! Conquer Liechtenstein? What are you talking about?" America said, sweeping his confused blue eyes around the room and landing on Liechtenstein.

"Hai, what is going on?" Japan piped up, looking around with a mildly confused expression.

Before Liechtenstein could reply and assure them that everything was fine (she really didn't want anyone to know about the previous incident, it would just raise worry and suspicion), Switzerland has cocked his gun.

"Anyone who asks questions will be shot." He said matter-of-factly, holding his arm protectively in front of Liechtenstein.

She blushed, obviously flustered, as all the eyes in the room turned on her. Sometimes she really wondered if Switzerland was sane. Luckily, Prussia saved her from the tight situation. "Hey, the king of Awesomeness would like to remind you all of the fact that Liechtenstein here _did _save the world, and it's not our job to poke our noses in her business, ja?"

"H-He's right." Came Canada's small voice, although it went unnoticed.

This time, America also came to her rescue. "That's right, dudes! Liechtenstein is totally our heroine! And the party tonight is all for her!"

Quickly, the room became noisy as more as all the nations shouted out their opinions and thanked Liechtenstein, and then started bashing each other again. A small sigh came to her left, and she turned to see America pushing up his glasses and smiling weakly at her.

"Hosting a world meeting is tougher than it seems." He chuckled, and then dashed out the door. "Meeting over everyone! Par-tay in the living room!" He shouted, and immediately, chairs were overturned as the nations stampeded out the door. Liechtenstein stayed glued to her chair to avoid getting hit, and patiently waited for the nations to file out the door.

"Liechtenstein, wait for me here, okay? I have to go thank the aristocrat." Switzerland suddenly told her, flushing slightly.

"Mr. Austria?"

"Yes. He's done a good job taking care of my most treasured possession." Vash answered curtly, turning away.

"Y-Your gun?" Liechtenstein called after him in confusion. But Switzerland didn't answer. Instead, he only said "No, you." and then proceeded to walking away as quickly as possible. Lilli noticed the red spreading to the tips of his ears.

"Liechtenstein, ve! I'll wait with you!" Feliciano bounded over to her, beaming like a ray of sunshine. She couldn't help but smile back, but that quickly faded away when she saw China approaching with Russia in tow.

"M-Mr. Russia." She bowed her head slightly, and Italy immediately grabbed her wrist, his amber eyes fixed on the tall Russian.

"No, no. He's not gonna hurt you or anything. He's gonna explain everything, aru." China said, giving Russia a stern gaze. Liechtenstein watched them in surprise; China was really gaining more of the control that he should have instead of just being used by Russia.

Russia sighed, and for a moment, he looked childish and forlorn. "I apologize, Liechtenstein. It was just... I wanted power. And you had that power. You had the Light. The Darkness had sensed the evil in me and so it came along, and you were the one that had to suffer it all. I'm sorry."

Liechtenstein's green eyes widened in surprise, and Italy glanced at Russia with a bewildered expression, too. "Mr. R-Russia, it wasn't your fault. The Darkness was discovered before that incident happened. And there's no need to apologize, really." She told him quietly, and China was the one that gave her a look this time.

"Ve, we forgive you, and the Darkness wasn't your fault. It came by itself." Italy defended her, and then he gave a smile. "But everything is just fine now!"

"R-Right, aru." China gave them both an uncertain look, but then he smiled at Liechtenstein and dragged the widely smiling Russian away.

Switzerland arrived back soon enough, and Liechtenstein followed him into America's huge living room. Surprisingly, everything had been set out neatly. This party wasn't one like France's fancy Christmas party, but it was more like a crazy celebration party. Loud music blaster from the stereos set in the corners of the room. Liechtenstein soon lost sight of her brother in the thick crowd, but she still had Italy.

After making their way through the crowd and arriving at the opposite side of the room, Liechtenstein discovered where she had ended up. Right in front of a bar, with a drunken France heading toward her.

"Ma cherie!" Francis greeted her, the cup of wine tilting back and forth in his hand.

An oblivious Italian greeted him back. "Big brother France!" He cheered, and then took a closer look at France. "Why is your face so red, big brother?"

France ruffled Italy's hair shakily, and then grinned at Liechtenstein. "Now that you've saved the world and everything, it's time to relax and _have some fun_, non? Come with me, and I'll tell Alfred to find us a bedroom somewhere here, since my mansion has, unfortunately, broken down." He winked at her and reached out for her hand.

Liechtenstein gaped at him, and then shrank back against Italy. She didn't know what he was talking about, but she sure wasn't going to find a bedroom with France...

"Ve! Big brother, don't say things like that!" Italy half-glared at France, but he couldn't pull off the _look _very well, as he obviously didn't know what he was talking about either. But once again, America came to the rescue.

"France, dude, you aren't going anywhere with Liechtenstein." He looked at him skeptically, and took Italy's spot next to her as Italy chased after France to ask for, no doubt, an explanation.

Liechtenstein beamed up at America, who returned it with his own sheepish grin. "So, you're our heroine, eh?"

"I wouldn't say so. Everyone has helped me through this, so they're all considered heroes." She said modestly, smiling at the ground.

America's gloved hand lifted her chin up. "Nah, you're the true heroine. And you know what the heroine gets?"

Liechtenstein stared back at him, big green eyes blinking innocently. "What?"

"She gets the hero!" He replied, pumping a fist into the air.

"Oh, about that... Hey Alfred, did you ever get that girl that you wanted?" She asked, thinking back to what he had told her a while ago about the hero always getting the girl. She wondered if he had gotten Taiwan, or Belarus, or whoever his girl was.

America seemed to mentally slap himself, and Liechtenstein's eyebrows furried slightly. When it came to these kinds of things, she was as oblivious as Italy, apparently. Or maybe his clueless-ness had rubbed off on her. But she didn't know why America was once more chuckling at her like he had when she had tried asking the same question before.

"You're our hero, and you're funny and outgoing and nice and everything. What nation wouldn't love you?" She tried again with a bit of a teasing note in her voice.

Instead of answering her question, America stared down at the floor. Liechtenstein hurriedly put a hand on her shoulder. "A-Alfred, did I say something wrong?" She asked worriedly. But America only shook his head.

"Nah, I decided that we would only be friends. It's good enough for me. I mean, she already has somebody, and they seem happy, so I wouldn't want to break up their happiness." This time his blue eyes bore into hers.

"Oh." A thoughtful look sprang over her face, and she smiled at him. "You're a very considerate person, you know. I really like that. And I'm glad that you're my friend."

America's smile was bittersweet. "I'm very glad, too."

Liechtenstein was about to reach out to hug him when England pulled America away, grumbling something about "... hitting on girls and not tending to the alcoholic beverages." She turned away and stretched up on her toes to find Italy, her big brother, Hungary, or Sealand and Iceland. But somebody knocked her to the ground.

"Aru! Are you ok, Liechtenstein?" China's amber eyes sparkled at her as he pulled her up. Liechtenstein nodded, and glanced in worry at his bandaged hand. Noticing her gaze, China chuckled slightly.

"It's from the Darkness." He explained.

"Did it hurt you?" She grabbed the hand and inspected it, but he shook his head.

"No, aru. I'll be fine tomorrow. Nations heal quickly."

Liechtenstein laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you're okay now." She told him. "It must have been horrible when you were stuck inside that room with no way to escape."

"Aru." He frowned slightly. "You were the one that defeated the Darkness, though. But that was such a risky thing to do! Do you have any idea how worried I was? If you died, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Thinking back of how cold and deserted she had felt inside the black void, but still struggling to stay alive using only her memories for reassurance, Liechtenstein felt weak at the knees. Out of the blue, she threw her arms around China and squeezed her eyes shut. "Es tut mir leid. I'm sorry." She spoke quietly. "I really thought that I was going to die and the Darkness would let you go."

China was stunned into silence for a few seconds, but then he regained his speech. "Darkness doesn't make deals, Liechtenstein. It breaks them, aru. It wanted to have all your power so that it would be forever invincible."

"I'm sorry for thinking that it would have willingly let us come out alive." She pulled back from his grasp and scowled.

China patted her shoulder reassuringly. "But your sacrifice was what defeated the Darkness, Liechtenstein. You did the right thing, and we're all safe now."

"But if it ever comes back..."

"We'll deal with that later, Liech. Right now, we're just gonna party. And it's a brand new year, aru!" He grinned at her, and spun her around, pushing her toward the direction of Italy. "Enjoy your moment."

Blushing furiously, she stuck her tongue out at him, indulging herself in a moment of Italy-like childishness, and then walked away.

Thirty minutes afterwards, Liechtenstein deeply regretted getting herself involved in a game of 'Seven minutes in Heaven'. Of course, at the time, she hadn't known what kind of game it was, and Switzerland wasn't there with her. Unfortunately, no one else bothered to tell her how to play, but they (Spain, Prussia, and a half-sober France) had all insisted that she pick a name out of the hat. So she did.

Luckily, she unfolded the paper to see Italy's name written on it. Before she could utter out a word, though, Prussia shoved her into a dark closet, and told her to wait while he went to find Italy. She hadn't known what to do, so she just sat in silence and listened to France and Spain chatting as they stood guard on the outside.

"It was smart of us to rig the game, non?" France slurred.

"Si! It's so nice to see little Veneziano growing up." Spain laughed, and Liechtenstein's eyes widened at the combination of 'oh hon hon hon' and 'fusosososo'.

And now she was still stuck inside the closet by herself. When was somebody going to let her out? Tired of waiting, Liechtenstein proceeded to pushing the wooden doors and climbing out by herself, when suddenly, the door was yanked open and Vash peered in.

"Who put my little sister in here?" He demanded, helping her out. Once Liechtenstein stood firmly on her feet, she tugged her brother's hand. "It's okay big bruder. It was no big deal." And luckily, no one had noticed Vash's outburst as the music was still turned up all the way. Prussia, France and Spain were nowhere in sight.

Although she tried to assure her brother that everything was fine, Switzerland quickly put an end to her partying and brought her home with him. Needless to say, many nations crowded around her and thanked her, saying that she was brave and everything, but Vash just pulled her through the crowd. At home, he sat her down on a kitchen chair and lectured about 'games adults play' and 'staying away from France'. Eventually, they had dinner, and she returned to her room after giving her brother a big hug and claiming how happy she was that things were finally returning to normal.

* * *

There was a knock on her balcony door.

Liechtenstein put down the thick book that she had just picked up a minute ago and walked over to the knocking, pulling the door wide open. Her eyes grew big as she stared at Italy and his bouquet of flowers.

"I-Italy." She managed to say.

"Ciao, Liechtenstein! I was going to give you these after the party, but Switzerland didn't let me in the door. America showed me this way instead." His eyes sparkled in the rising moonlight. "There are lilies, Alpine red roses, and daisies. They're our national flowers. And the lilies represent your human name, as well." He beamed at her and held out the bouquet.

Liechtenstein blushed, but she accepted the flowers and set them to the side. She was sure to find the best vase in the house to put them in and make sure they lasted for a long time. "What brings you here, Italy?" She asked him, although she really didn't mind. "It's late."

"Oh, I just wanted to thank you, ve. You saved us all." He smiled cheerfully once more.

"I-I did what I felt was right. And I really don't mind giving myself up, as long as it's worth it. This time, it was for my friends, my brother, and for you."

Liechtenstein's blush grew darker when Italy didn't speak. "That was really brave of you, ve." He finally said quietly. "I never thought that someone would be willing to sacrifice themself for me."

Liechtenstein gave him a slightly confused look. "Many nations would do that, and well, you mean a lot to me."

"Really? I mean, you said it before, but I just thought it was a spur of the moment thing. And I'm not good enough for you, ve. You deserve someone like America or China." Italy made a move to climb back down from the balcony, but Liechtenstein held him back. Understanding each other without a word, Italy let her pull him down until they sat with their back against the balcony columns.

"You know, I wondered why I was the Light instead of you. You're far purer than me." Liechtenstein said quietly.

Italy looked thoughtful. "I don't think it's all about innocence and everything. It's more. If I was in your situation, I wouldn't be able to give myself up like that. I would just surrender out of fear. For myself." He turned to her. "You deserve the title of Light."

Liechtenstein giggled slightly, and then settled back to the peaceful silence. "Italy?" She said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Ve?"

"Y-You _do _mean a lot to me, you know." She blushed, trying to still her shaking hands. "And it's like... I need you." Her heart was working double-time now; she felt like she would explode, and she wasn't even sure if that was the right thing to say.

Feliciano smiled slightly. "Si. It's hard to say how I feel, but it isn't a silly crush, like Ludwig said." He slipped his hand in hers, and her heart jumped.

"Hey Liechtenstein." Italy suddenly said.

"Ja?"

"Baciami. Kiss me." He told her.

Liechtenstein's green eyes gaped at him. She had done it once, but she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to do it again. But really... She stared into his soft amber eyes, which were now open and seemed to be looking deep into her mind.

"If you don't, then I'll kiss you!" This time, Italy let out a playful chuckle and then pressed his lips to hers. Liechtenstein, taken by surprise, squeaked slightly, but then she relaxed against Italy's hold. Her hand tightened around his, and her cheeks felt hot. Italy tasted like... pasta sauce, but she liked that. She even liked the feeling of a million fireworks exploding in her mind.

"L-Liechtenstein, ti amo." He smiled at her as he pulled away. "Si, ti amo, ve!"

Liechtenstein, blushing brilliantly, didn't reply right away. Instead, she muttered out "Ich liebe dich" quietly, and leaned back against Italy's shoulder.

And suddenly, she realized that everything that had happened... everything had really been worth it. Even the Darkness had helped her find her happiness. Allowing a smile to grace her lips, she closed her eyes in contentment. And this time, no dark words were whispered in her mind. There were no hoarse voices, no mockery, no torments, nothing. It was just her and Italy's soft breathing, and the moon, and the slight breeze that blew by. She had finally come to recognize her happiness. Her love. Her light.

And she wouldn't let it go, no matter the price.

Tightening her hold around Italy, Liechtenstein drifted to sleep peacefully at last.

* * *

** I had tears in my eyes while writing this... My first fan fic... is complete! Thank you everyone, for reading, for reviewing, for adding to their favorites list, for subscibing, for... everything that's left. i love you all! Ti amo and ich liebe dich!**

Yes, "What should have been" shall be up soon. I hope to see you all back with me on my second fic! Goodbye for now! 


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